


The Brink

by realjane



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-17 00:01:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4644927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realjane/pseuds/realjane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wyatt Cain is a shell of the man he once was. When tragedy strikes, it threatens not only the life of the OZ's favorite princess, but the ex-Tin Man's grip on reality. But the OZ is on the edge of a much bigger war, one that could pull apart the entire realm.</p>
<p>Cain/DG, fringe Az/Jeb eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on fanfiction.net in 2014 as "From the Earth" by me (brunette89 on FF). I'd still like to finish this fic if there's interest in it! Let me know what you think. 
> 
> I own nothing, except for the mental image of Neal McDonough in a fancy uniform.

DG sat on her balcony in a wicker chair, bundled under the blanket Azkadellia knitted for her, with a cup of chocolate muglug. The breeze off the lake blew little hairs against her cheeks. Finaqua was quiet in its new-found peace and DG sat many hours alone while her mother fixed the OZ. DG's place was uncertain as the reinstated princess. The OZ had functioned without her for over ten years and her mother was perfectly capable of ruling now that the witch had been expelled from the realm. DG was merely another body in a family portrait until things calmed down. There was no way to know if the OZ had been rid of evil for good and she could still be in danger, so leaving the palace was out of the question. Here she sat, taking in the waning day as she did every evening.

Wyatt Cain pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit a match against the sole of his boot. He sat on the railing of the gazebo, dragging out the smoke with a western flair. The Queen had yet to reestablish his Tin so he remained in a weird Limbo, a soldier of the Resistance and of the State, a guest of the Queen and a Commander. Only a week after the banishment of the witch and he was completely without a purpose. Jeb was with his troops in the West, preventing an uprising and he had been banned form leaving by the Queen for reasons unknown to him. For now, he was stuck in Finaqua with no station.

DG could smell cigar smoke from the balcony, which meant Cain was in a mood. Normally, he stuck to his own room or pestered Glitch but he rarely went outside. DG stood, looking out over the balcony and sure enough Cain sat on the railing in the gazebo. His shoulders slumped in an unsettling manner that made DG worry. Cain seemed to be angry with her constantly so she mostly avoided him. Her pre-revolution escort was now a stranger to her.

He could tell he was being watched but he didn't look right away. It could just be a guard but he couldn't be too careful. Discreetly, Cain tilted his head towards the palace and spied DG on her balcony. She waved and Cain stiffened. DG hadn't spoken to him in a week but now she watched him, waved to him… Cain didn't know how to react to her.

Cain hadn't seen her. DG sighed, sitting on the railing with her back to him. Whatever awkwardness had sprung up between them wasn't going to be fixed tonight. DG pulled her sweater tighter as the wind blew a gust, sharp off the water. Before she could think, DG lost her balance and felt herself falling backwards without control. And then it was dark.

Cain's cigar fell from his lips and he was pounding the pavement before it hit the ground. DG had to be fine; she probably just fell into the bushes... Cain had never run so fast, but his feet felt heavy as he raced to reach her. Surely someone else had seen her fall, he thought, but nobody else was in sight. When he got to her, DG was unconscious and blood was beginning to pool around her head. Cain felt his heart squeeze but he whipped off his jacket and immediately began checking her for broken bones. He discerned that her left femur was snapped and she had a few cracked ribs, in addition to the large gash on her head. He took off his button-down shirt and began ripping it into strips. He splinted her leg as best as he could but he felt himself beginning to panic. DG hadn't come to and she was still losing blood.

Without thinking, he lifted her, running into the palace.

"Commander Cain-!"

"Raw, get Raw," Cain wheezed, sprinting for DG's room. His wits were not about him anymore. DG's breathing was shallow, pained. Cain nearly tripped racing up the stairs and met Azkadellia at the top of the stairs.

"DG," She breathed, following Cain frantically. "Has Raw been sent for?"

"I sent Eames," He ground out, kicking open DG's door with unnecessary force.

With Azkadellia's assistance, Cain laid DG on her bed, supported by pillows. Within a minute, a flurry of medics whisked in and booted Az and Cain out. Cain had the door shut in his face. Anger pouring forth, he stalked up and down the hall, shirtless and worried.

"Why is Cain shirtless?" Glitch stage whispered upon his arrival.

"He bandaged her leg," Az offered gently.

"Why is he grunting?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." She laughed lightly. "Cain?"

No response.

"Wyatt Cain?"

"What?" He growled, still pacing.

"What happened to DG?" Az asked, pained. Cain stopped abruptly with his back to her.

"She fell. Off the balcony." He was surprisingly soft. Nothing else was said. Strangely concerned about Cain's nakedness, Glitch fetched Cain a new shirt while they waited.

"Do my parents know?" Az asked her bodyguard, Ebb.

"Yes, they're on their way back from the city now."

After what seemed like hours, Raw emerged from DG's room, exhausted.

"Is she going to be okay?" Glitch asked immediately.

"Don't know. Cain shouldn't have moved her." Cain clenched his fists but said nothing. "Can't heal her completely, she must do the rest herself." Raw sighed, leaving them. The herd of medics followed.

"I'll meet my parents outside," Az sighed. "Watch over her, will you Cain?"

"Yes," he replied stoically. Cain went into DG's room without question, and Glitch followed Az. The Princess was pale. Cain sat at the end of her bed, watching her chest rise and fall. He willed her to keep breathing.

Stupid, Cain thought. Only DG could accidentally nearly kill herself with nobody's help. It wasn't like someone had tried to assassinate her or pushed her off the balcony, oh no. This was why Cain had advocated for her to have a bodyguard. And where was Hess when she fell? Sleeping in a chair outside her door. It's not like DG is hard to guard, not anymore. She spends all her time in her room; all you have to do is check on her once in a while- Cain sighed. He and Hess would have words before the day was out.

The Queen and Consort stormed into the room and Cain quickly adios'd himself. Glancing down at his hands, Cain realized they were still stained with DG's blood. His stomach turned over. Raw was right, he shouldn't have moved her but he had just… panicked. The toughest Tin Man in the OZ had freaked, compromising the safety of one of the most important people in the realm.

He barely knew her, really. Beyond what she had divulged that fateful week, she was practically a stranger to him. DG probably knew even less about him. Yet somehow, Cain couldn't help but feel personally responsible for her. If he had vouched for her safety, he would've been her personal detail and she never would've gone near that balcony.

Water didn't seem enough to wash he blood from his hands. Cain scrubbed them until they were raw but still he felt it. His nail beds were stained; he looked like he'd just skinned an animal with his bare hands. If only there were some kind of monster to blame, he'd do just that. In some small way, Cain knew this was his fault.

Cain stalked the grounds of Finaqua, especially where DG fell. He was looking for an answer, a reason, something that could explain why she fell nearly three stories. He circled the pool of blood until he was dizzy, surveyed the surrounding area for broken marble or something that would betray the construction of the balcony… nothing stood out. He wore out the knee on his khakis digging a shiny rock out of the soil, but the rock was just a rock, and Cain had no answers. He refused to accept that DG just slipped backwards; even she wasn't that clumsy. His eyes began to strain as he sifted through the dirt. Dirt mingled with dried blood under his jagged fingernails.

"How long has he been out there?" Azkadellia asked as she and Glitch watched Cain's ministrations from an upper window.

"On hands and knees? Over an hour, but he's been combing the grounds since he left her room last night. I'm not sure he even knows the sun is up."

"What is he looking for?"

"A reason that it isn't his fault. That's my guess anyway." Glitch sighed.

"But she slipped, right? Nothing he could do about it."

"Cain was the only one who saw it happen, so that's all we have to go by. I hope that he isn't punishing himself for it." Glitch stepped away from the window, shuffling papers on his desk. "Although an insensitive person might think it his fault, being the only witness and all… but anybody who saw him take a bullet for her in the tower would know otherwise."

"You know he wanted to remain her bodyguard," Az said, leaning against the window frame.

"I know. Though I can't think why; she seemed to be the bane of his existence when he was escorting us." Glitch found Cain's file under a large stack of papers labeled "to file". He opened it, running a finger down the page. "He didn't do well on the psych evaluation-"

"Should you be telling me this?"

"It makes sense. Your mother wouldn't reassign him because he was unstable." He handed the file to Azkadellia after taping it emphatically against his forehead.

"Well 8 years in a Tin Suit would screw you up too," She said off-hand and Glitch blushed.

"Fortunately, I'm only a head-case."

"Oh, Glitch, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay. You haven't been yourself in a long time, Az, don't worry about it."

"I guess we're all our own particular brand of crazy, aren't we?" She laughed sadly, still feeling guilty. "Do you think he knows that Mother doesn't plan to reassign him?"

"Definitely not. How could he know? Every day he tells me what he's gonna do to Zero when he's reassigned. He's had one goal for the last eight years, I can't imagine that has changed."

"Maybe it has. I haven't heard a peep from him about Zero since the exorcism. DG must mean a lot to him, he's got his nose to the ground out there."

"Do you think this is about DG or about the fact that he didn't prevent her from getting hurt?"

"Maybe both," Az sighed. This comfortable repartee might not have been possible had Glitch's better judgment been in tact, but without his brain, he had forgiven Azkadellia the second the witch left her body. Strangely, she found that he was the only one who didn't treat her funny when they spent much time together, and that was good enough. If Glitch were a Gods-fearing man, he would certainly be devout. But he was too smart for metaphysics, and his friendship with Azkadellia was all the better for it.

Just as Cain began to think about abandoning his investigation, a glint caught his eye by the toe of his boot. He reached down to grasp a small, spent shell casing. Cain paled. DG had been shot. His blood boiled as he pocketed the shell. If the shell had fallen that close to the site where DG fell, the shooter had to have stood directly there, screened by the large trees that surrounded the palace. That also meant that the shooter could be close by.

Cain whipped his gun out of its holster and trained it on the open field in front of him, everywhere and nowhere in particular. His once steady hands shook so badly, the barrel of the gun slid open and deposited the bullets on the ground. Cain bellowed and hurled the gun as far away as he could. It landed with a distant, defiant plink. He knelt down to retrieve the bullets and the shell casing he had found for evidence fell out of his pocket. At first he couldn't tell it from the unspent bullets, eyes glazed. When his eyes focused, he realized what he had dreaded: the shell casing was from a familiar gun. His. It wasn't evidence, it was a shell he had spent taking out his anger on the shooting range. Cain didn't have one shred of evidence to prove what had happened to DG, just a guilty conscience.

Three sharp raps on Glitch's door and he snapped Wyatt Cain's file shut. He had clearance but if Cain himself came through that door, Glitch was pretty sure he'd be dead.

"Enter," Glitch said. Eames entered, out of breath. "Yes?"

"Wyatt Cain is harassing Captain Teig, something about a shell casing and the princess…" Eames went on but Glitch tuned out. So that's what Cain had been searching for on his hands and knees. Glitch breezed by Eames and headed for the Captain's office in the East wing. Sharply turning the corner, Glitch ran smack into Cain himself.

"Wanna dance, Tin Man?" Glitch rubbed his head and picked himself off the floor.

"Glitch," Cain groaned. "I am on my way to the Queen."

"I'll follow." The two made haste to the throne room.

"I know something happened to DG," Cain announced to Glitch, rather unceremoniously. "I can't explain what it was, but she couldn't have just slipped."

"Now, Cain, Raw's not sure about that-"

"I am positive."

"But you don't know that she was attacked-"

"I'm sure!" Cain hollered. Glitch snapped his mouth shut and followed the Tin Man, a little slower. Something about DG's fall was torturing him; he was desperate to make a connection.

The meeting with the Queen did not go as Cain had planned. Raw was called in to discuss the supposed wound that Cain was sure DG had sustained, but he hadn't found one. The ex-Tin Man was practically hysterical, insisting that nobody just falls off a third story balcony. Cain thought it might be an inside job but the facts stood: DG did not have a gunshot wound, just broken bones from the fall. The desperate man stormed out of the throne room, leaving the Queen, Consort, Glitch and Raw staring after him.

"He blames himself," Glitch offered.

"No kidding," Ahamo scoffed.

"Cain has much to deal with," Raw offered. "Raw can help, but Cain must be told of failed psych evaluation."

"Count me out. He'd shoot me first and ask questions later." Glitch shuddered.

"Perhaps it ought to wait until DG is stable," The Queen said softly. "With any luck the return of her magic will help in that. Glitch, will you make sure Cain has detail? I'm worried that he will get worse and I can't imagine what he'll do if he loses it entirely."

"Yes, your Majesty." Glitch bowed.

Cain found a strangely restful hideaway in DG's room, after threatening Hess with his life and first-born children, of course. He felt like an absolute idiot. Something had possessed him to take responsibility for DG and he couldn't shake the feeling, even now that he had been humiliated in front of the Queen. After a thorough inspection of the balcony and discerning that there was in fact nothing he could do, Cain sat against the foot-board of DG's bed, head in hands. He felt crazy. Every once in a while, he would pop up to make sure she was breathing and not breathe himself until her ribs expanded. It felt like eons since he'd slept, though it had only been a little over 24-hours. He was afraid to go to sleep in case DG took a turn for the worst. When Azkadellia found him, Cain was sitting next to DG's bed, eyes bloodshot and unblinking.

"Wyatt," Az said gently, hand on his arm. He didn't look up at her, just gave a subtle nod of acknowledgment. "Go get some rest, she'll be fine."

"Can't." He breathed. "She's not safe."

"I'll stay with her until you've rested-"

"No, can't leave."

Az sighed. She didn't want to be the one to break the news to him but this seemed like an opportune moment.

"Wyatt… mother is not going to reassign you." It took a second for the statement to hit its mark. Cain looked up at her slowly, eyes questioning. "You failed the evaluation."

Cain inhaled sharply as if fighting back tears and rubbed his face.

"I failed it?"

"Yes."

"Gods… what do I do? I don't have a place to live or a job to do, what can I do now that I've lost this too?" He hit his forehead against the mattress and DG breathed out heavily, as if frightened. Cain bolted upright, ready to do whatever she needed. A cool realization settled over him and he crossed his arms over his barrel chest. "I'm giving Glitch a run for his money, aren't I?" Az would've laughed under different circumstances.

"You can remain at the palace as long as you like, I hope you know that." She offered. He shook his head but stopped, eyes coming to rest on the sleeping DG.

"How do I prove myself, Az?"

"Lay low for a while. Leave this room, eat something, sleep sometime," Az smiled. "We're all here to help you. I can't imagine being in a tin suit for eight years would be good for anyone."

"Az… I don't mean this to be as insulting as it is gonna sound," Cain began. "But how did you pass the test? After the witch and all?"

"I didn't," She admitted quietly. Cain looked up at her, surprised. "And neither did DG. I think Glitch was the only one who did pass, oddly. But we're the Princesses of the OZ, our place is at our parents' side."

"And I don't have a place," He nodded, forming his own understanding.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know, but it's true. Your place is with your family. My only family is Jeb, and he's on the western front because he doesn't have a home either." Cain rubbed his weathered face. "Isn't there anything you can do to help me?"

"I am not in the position to do anything… that is, I don't think my mother would allow it." She sighed.

"Please, Az? Could you try? Can you ask?" The big lug was at his breaking point.

"Cain-"

Cain knelt down in front of her and grabbed her hands fiercely.

"Please, Azkadellia. Please say you will. I can't go on if you don't say yes."

"I didn't know Cain was your type, Az," Glitch spoke from the doorway without a speck of irony. Clearly, he hadn't been there long. "Carry on, may the force be with you, odds ever in your- whatever they say. A wedding! Of course, I never thought it would be them…" Glitch mumbled to himself all the way down the hallway.

"Oh Gods," Az rolled her eyes. "I had better catch him before he tells the whole palace that you proposed to me." She smiled, but was met with the empty eyes of the broken Tin Man. "Tell you what. I'll have Hess reassigned and Mother doesn't have to know… you can watch over DG, IF you promise to eat and sleep like a normal human being. If you're lucky and well-behaved, you can be reevaluated in a month." Az smiled sadly as he gazed at her sister for just a moment. "I'll tell Mother that you're sticking around for a little while. There's plenty of room in the palace for the realm's favorite tin man." His connection to DG was undeniable and Az wasn't about to sabotage it. Not to mention, Az didn't want to be responsible for what would happen if she didn't help him.

"Deal." Cain tried not to show how pleased this arrangement made him and ducked his head. Az smiled, giving him a nod. She left without another word, the image of Cain watching her sister fresh in her mind.


	2. Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DG's alive, and Cain's fighting to be the very best... but is he doing it for the right reasons? Is he ready?

It is not enough to be accepted when you are meant for greater things. Wyatt Cain was a guest of the state and everybody thought highly of him, but he didn't have a position, an assignment, or a purpose. It was bad enough enduring the pitying looks as he walked to and fro from DG's room.

Shortly after DG's accident, Cain locked himself away somewhere very deep inside. It was part guilt that he'd let it happen, part anguish that she hadn't come to. The only person who he shared blood with on this Gods forsaken planet was hundreds of miles away fighting the last remaining longcoats. He should be there too, Cain should be there, fighting with them, but he had failed the psychological evaluation. Nobody was about to put a gun back in his hands after he pulled a gun on an empty field and mistook his own shell casing for evidence. DG slipped, that was that.

In the few weeks after DG's accident, Cain became withdrawn, internal even. He ate when he knew nobody would be in the kitchens, bathed in DG's bathroom in the wee hours of the morning, and sat next to DG's bed, with few deviations.

Cain had become a chain smoker and it was driving Glitch crazy. Smelling like smoke was no way to win the heart of a lady, and Glitch made a mental note to tell him so. What if DG woke up to that reeking mess? For the Gods' sake, get a hobby, take up knitting. At least he didn't smoke in DG's room, but the balcony wasn't much better. In fact, she was probably getting just as much smoke second-hand as she would if he puffed right in her face, Glitch reasoned. The Tin Man had gotten a little flabby, come to think of it, and Glitch was pretty sure he'd smelled whiskey on Cain's breath. Wyatt Cain was really letting himself go, in Glitch's opinion, but there was no way he was going to outright confront him about it. The best way to deal with Cain was to plant an idea in his head so subtly that he thought it was his own.

"Cain… have you thought about chewing gum?" Glitch asked, leaning against DG's open doorway. Subtlety, they name is Glitch.

"Why?" Cain asked curtly. He sat in the chair beside DG's bed with his arms crossed.

"Your breath has been less than spectacular, my friend," Glitch said. He strolled to the middle of the room to where Cain's duster was draped over a chair. As he spoke, he picked little flecks of things off the jacket. "I'm just being honest with you because I thought you might care that talking to you is sometimes staggering. And I don't mean because of you're looks, I mean, you're a good looking man, Cain, and if my pendulum swung that way, I'd go for ya, but what I'm saying is: chew some gum. For my sake. For DG's sake. For the OZ's sake. For—"

"Did you come here to insult me?" The tin man sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes.

Glitch raised his eyebrows as if to say, 'who, me?'

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Cain asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh sure, sure." Glitch backed slowly towards the door. "I have gum in my pocket, if you want it."

"Go, Glitch!"

"You're gonna get secretary butt if you sit in that chair all the damn time!" Glitch called from the doorway. Cain stood and Glitch shrieked. The head case sprinted down the hallway until he made it to the safety of his office.

Cain reached for his pack of smokes on DG's bedside table and perched a cigarette on his lips while he searched his duster for his lighter. It was gone. Glitch. Cain threw the cigarette across the room, then the whole pack.

"Are you shirtless?" Asked a voice.

Cain's heart leapt. He was shirtless, but not for anyone's benefit. The collar of his regular shirt had been rubbing him the wrong way.

"Cain?" The voice asked again.

Cain turned. The princess' eyes were open to little slits and her mouth up-turned ever so slightly.

"Are you a statue?" She asked, amusement evident in her voice.

The tin man grabbed his button-up shirt from where it lay next to his duster and turned his back to her, slipping it on. He didn't button it because his hands couldn't stop shaking. Was she really awake?

What was he supposed to say to her?

"You fell…" he said finally, softly.

"When?" DG asked.

"Few weeks ago-"

"What? Can you come here?"

Cain turned back to face her. He took a few steps forward, but only so far as the edge of the bed, as far as propriety demanded when he had guarded her before. "A few weeks ago," He said again, jamming his hands in his pockets to still his hands. "Do you remember?"

"No," She breathed, closing her eyes.

"Don't push yourself, you nearly bashed the whole backside of your skull open." Cain looked down at his bare toes.

"Explains the headache." She breathed in a ragged breath. "Mmm, ribs too?"

"Yes. And your leg."

"God." DG breathed in as deep as her rib would allow. She slowly pulled her arms out from underneath her quilt and popped her fingers. "Cramped."

"It was my fault, Princess. I should have been there." Cain said solemnly.

"You were there; you escorted me through the OZ."

"No, I should have been there," He breathed. "When you fell."

DG opened both eyes and looked up at him. She pointed to the chair beside her bed. Cain obeyed and sat beside her.

"The last thing I remember is sitting on the balcony. Fill me in." DG closed her eyes again.

Cain cleared his throat and relayed the events back to her. He left out his side of things, like the tightness in his chest when he saw her standing on the balcony, terror watching her body fall, the despair knowing that he shouldn't have moved her, and the complete depression waiting for her to wake up… or not. When he finished, DG held out her hand without a word. Cain grasped her hand.

"Why did you stay?" DG asked softly.

Cain thought about it, but he didn't have a concrete answer. He was there, and that's all he knew. The sound of DG's shallow breathing told him that she was asleep and he felt strangely relieved. But what now? What was his duty now?

He had to tell the Queen and Consort that their daughter was awake. He had to, except he couldn't bring himself to unclasp his hand from hers and wake her. Cain wasn't sure he remembered ever having touched her skin before. He knew he must have, especially considering that he picked her up after she fell, and he shook her hand when the first met, but he didn't remember how her skin felt against his for any prolonged amount of time. He had known her only a few short months by that time, and the last three weeks, she was unconscious.

Before the accident, he kept his distance from her. After all that time in the suit, tin men had changed greatly. Their uniforms were crisper, guns bigger, training more severe, and Cain wasn't up to snuff. He needed to pass the psychological test, endure a body endurance physical, and be completely retrained in weaponry before his tin could be reestablished, but he had failed the psych eval. Step 1 and he couldn't even complete that. Well, he couldn't before. But Cain had come to a strangely resolute peace watching over DG. Seeing the tenuous nature of things, knowing that at any moment life could end or change; that was sobering. He knew he had a lot of growing to do but he had to try. DG was awake now and he needed to be official tin or he wouldn't be able to protect her. It was Azkadellia's kindness alone that allowed him to watch over his charge, but that wouldn't be enough.

Gently, Cain pried his fingers from the Princess' and laid her hand next to her hip. He stood, buttoned his shirt, and slipped on his duster. He cast a glance at DG and made a silent promise in his head. Nothing like this would ever happen again and he was sure of that.

Azkadellia spent a few hours a day sitting outside DG's door just in case she woke up or Cain went off the deep end. The rest of the day was spent learning everything she could about the state of the OZ. Several longcoat cells were off the grid hadn't received word about the exorcism of the witch. Even if they had, they probably wouldn't have turned over in support of the good Queen with lavender eyes. They had to be wary of attacks from a few Resistance troupes that hadn't gotten word, but Jeb was doing his best to seek out the remaining soldiers and inform them of the need to protect the royal family.

The door to DG's room opened and Cain exited looking better than he had in weeks.

"Princess," Cain greeted Azkadellia. "Where is Glitch at this moment?"

"He's in his office, Mr. Cain." Az said.

"Great. Can you inform Eames that Princess DG needs a guard? I have something I have to do and it's going to take—well, it could take a few months."

"Sure, I'll have Ebb on it this afternoon. May I ask what you're going to do? You begged me to for this position, I'm just curious what could pull you away," Az said.

"I'm going to get my tin reinstated," the man said. "I'm going to be the best soldier this realm has ever seen." Then he did something that Azkadellia didn't know he was capable of: he smiled. Cain bowed to the elder princess and turned on his heel to head for Glitch's office. "Oh, Princess! DG woke up about an hour ago. She's sleeping now, but you might want to tell your parents," Cain said over his shoulder.

Azkadellia's eyes bugged and she bolted for DG's room.

Glitch cowered under his desk when he heard the three booming Wyatt Cain sized knocks on his office door.

"Glitch?" Cain asked.

"Nobody's here!" The head case called.

"I hear you, Glitch. I need to talk to you."

"Leave a message!"

Cain sighed and dug his switchblade out of his pocket, deftly popping the lock and swinging the door open. The head case was nowhere to be found; at least until Cain walked around the desk and nearly tripped over Glitch's outstretched feet. Cain knelt down and cocked an eyebrow.

"Glitch."

"Cain," Glitch laughed nervously. "Just… napping. Napping."

Glitch crawled out from underneath the desk and skirted past Cain to put a desk between them (just in case). Cain sat on the edge of the desk.

"I want to retake the psych evaluation," Cain said.

"You only took it a month ago," Glitch said, discreetly sweeping papers over Cain's file on his desk.

"I want to take it again. Today."

"I need to give the recruiting center at least two week's notice—"

"Two weeks, then."

"Two weeks it is, Cain. Does this have anything to do with DG?" Glitch asked.

"We'll see. If I can pass the test, I'm going to work harder than I have my entire life to get my badge reinstated," Cain said. "Thanks, Glitch."

"Sure," Glitch said, shrugging his shoulders.

Cain clapped Glitch on the arm and headed for the door. "By the way, DG woke up about an hour ago."

Glitch pushed past Cain, threw open the door, and skittered down the hallway.

Major Jebediah Cain was back from the western front and the newly instated head of physical training at Tin Man headquarters, so it came as a bit of a surprise to him when his father came bursting into his office demanding to be trained with entry-level boots. Wyatt Cain wasn't out of shape, in fact he was a beast, but he wasn't about to be out trained by a bunch of kids. He vowed to be in the best condition of his life, no matter what it took. Jeb took secret pleasure in introducing his old man to Sergeant Stone, the harshest trainer at the academy. Stone spent the first three days putting Wyatt Cain through the ringer: sprints, weights, tire throws, no sleep, and protein-pounding meals every two hours. Every night at dinner, a page reported Princess DG's status to him and he trained the hardest from dinner to breakfast, strengthened by her progress.

On day four, Wyatt Cain taped his hands and stepped into the ring with Stone for a boxing lesson. Day five, a new sparring partner named Big Jim knocked Cain out cold. Day six, Big Jim broke Cain's nose. Day seven, Cain bounced off Big Jim's fist and flipped over the ropes. Day eight, Big Jim caught an uppercut to the jaw. Day nine, Big Jim got punched in the stomach. Day ten, Cain knocked Big Jim to the mats in a one-two combo. Day eleven, Wyatt Cain knocked Big Jim Julie out. Nobody ever knocked Big Jim out until the elder Cain.

Wyatt Cain was becoming the talk of the academy. He slept in the locker room on a cot no more than four hours a night and drank his weight in water. On the thirteenth day, Cain began alternate weight and endurance training and he threw the dumbbells around like fluffy dice. He hadn't seen DG in two weeks.

On the fourteenth day, Wyatt Cain sat before the psychological team and endured a series of tests. He was hooked up to a lie detector, subjected to a stress test, interviewed for two hours, and asked to relay the events of the past that made him choose to come back to the academy. Cain left out emotional things, like finding out his wife was dead, being reunited with his son, being responsible for the lost princess, oh and being enslaved in the suit for nearly ten years. Instead, Cain talked about all of his years of service before the Witch really came to power, about the state of the OZ now and the need for the royal family's protection, about wanting to come up to date with the new Tin Men requirements. He passed.

This was a different kind of madness; an obsession that he could not deny. Yes, Cain was still disturbed, but he was doing something about it.

DG was able to sit up with assistance a week after she woke up. She was inundated with visitors of all kinds, flesh and fur alike, the only notable exception being the man who didn't leave her side for three straight weeks. When she could sit up unassisted the second week, Azkadellia took DG (in a comfortable wheel chair) to the viewing room that high-ranking Tin Men used to observe the new recruits in the gym, to show her just where her bodyguard was. Two men stood in the boxing ring wearing gloves and protective helmets. One of them was impossibly large with hands like sledgehammers, while the other was quick and slim, but built. DG watched as the smaller man dodged the giant mitts of the big man and knocked him out in a few seconds.

"Who is that?" DG asked Azkadellia, watching as several boots gathered around the ring to care for the unconscious man.

"The big guy is Big Jim Julie," Az said. "They make all the boots box him to teach them how to handle a no-win scenario."

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios," DG said.

The smaller man removed his gloves and knelt next to his sparring partner.

"Neither does Wyatt Cain," Az said softly, watching her sister's face as it lit up.

"Cain did that?"

"Apparently he is the toast of the academy. He has been training non-stop since the first day you woke up and he is retaking the psych evaluation in a few days," Az said.

Cain removed his opponent's helmet and helped four other men move the big lug to a stretcher. The other men wheeled poor Jim Julie to the hospital wing and left Cain alone in the gym.

"Why?" DG asked, watching Cain.

"He wants to be the best soldier the Tin Men have ever seen to make sure nothing like your accident ever happens again." Az said. "I think, if I'm honest, that he's doing it for you."

"Why?" The younger princess asked again.

Cain removed his helmet and sat in his corner of the boxing ring. He looked fierce, driven. Sexy—erm, athletic. Athletic is what DG thought. Right.

"Who knows why Cain does what he does, really," Az said. "He found you after you fell, he bound your leg, he brought you to your room, he begged me to reassign Hess so he could stay with you, and then he did. For three weeks. Glitch and I had to force him to leave your room or shower or even eat. I can insinuate a reason, but I'm not sure he'd ever admit it and I'm not sure you would accept it. I think he feels guilty and also like he has some kind of purpose now: to become the best Tin Man that ever was."

"He already is," DG breathed.

Cain stood, torso glistening with sweat from the match, and ducked under the ropes. He couldn't see the princesses watching him through the upstairs mirrors, but he could tell someone was, and that's what he needed. People to stand up and take note and invest in him. The endurance test would stretch him to the furthest extent of his abilities and he had to be stronger than the test. He had to have allies. He had to be the best he had ever been.

"I'm tired, Az. Do you mind?" DG asked. She wasn't really tired; she was afraid of being hypnotized by the pure passion of Cain as he threw himself into a weight combo. She was afraid of reading into this behavior because she still didn't know much about him other than what she found out on the journey through the OZ. Wyatt Cain was sure worked up and DG couldn't help but feel al little hot and bothered, for better and for worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spot the Star Trek reference! My geekery knows no bounds.


	3. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DG is not yet in perfect health, but Cain is better than ever. DG can't help but notice how hard he's worked... but why?

The graduating class of the Tin Man Academy was a highly guarded secret. Traditionally, the graduates were announced at the Solstice ball, having only been told minutes before that they had successfully passed their evaluations. No one, except for the board members, knew who would be descending the grand staircase and receiving their badges until the announcement was made. Because of this, DG spent many hours trying to convince Jeb to tell her if his father would be graduating.

"You know that the identities of the graduates are not revealed until the Solstice ball, Princess. Even if I wanted to tell you, I could lose my rank for even telling you what he's had for breakfast this morning," Jeb said. He clicked a pen, signed a form, and handed it off to a page. "For Major Stone."

The page saluted and left the office. Jeb sat back in his chair.

"You don't have to tell me, you could just give me… a thumbs up, or a wink or something," DG said.

Jeb raised his eyebrow.

"Is that—"

"No, that's not a yes. And it's not a no. It's a go away and leave it alone! You get to be surprised, just like everyone else in the OZ," he said.

"Come on, Jeb! Can't you give the poor injured princess a break?" DG asked, sliding further down in her wheelchair and trying desperately to look pathetic.

"No way. I'm sorry you haven't seen him in a while—"

"It's been two months, Jeb! Two freakin' months!" DG exclaimed. "I probably won't even recognize him by the time I see him next because you'll have turned him into a super soldier. And I have no doubt that you did, because Wyatt Cain does not fail at things. He is going to be graduating."

"That is not in your power, DG."

"Ugh," DG huffed. "You know he deserves this."

"Speaking as his commanding officer, I have no comment. Speaking as his son, I agree with you. But it's not solely up to me, and in fact, the board has taken my opinion into account very little." Jeb ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, DG. This is not something I am in the position to talk about. After the Solstice ball, regardless of how it goes, I would be happy to discuss it with you. But until then…"

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry, I just feel like I should be able to do something for him after all of this."

"You can go to the ball and support him, whether or not he earns his badge."

DG sat silently for a moment. It truly wasn't Jeb's fault that his father was being put through the ringer.

"I guess I better go talk to the seamstress about a dress that would go with my wheelchair," she grumbled.

"That's the spirit," Jeb smiled. "Save a dance for me, Princess!" He laughed when she scowled at him.

DG left the office and wheeled herself past the training facility viewing area. She came every day to see Wyatt Cain, but he hadn't trained there for a few weeks. She figured he was probably in the midst of tactical training, but still. DG felt like she knew so little about him, and she wanted to know so much. Why was he retraining? What did he want to do with his life, now that he was free from the suit? They had never spoken about it during their time before the witch was beaten. She freed him, he agreed to escort her and Glitch, and they beat the witch. And then he stuck around the palace, avoiding her. Until her accident, she hadn't spent two moments alone with the guy, and he definitely wasn't going to open up around Glitch. For such a good man, because it was clear to her that he was the best, he was very closed off.

She wasn't fully healed yet, but DG felt pretty good, considering. Raw suggested she remain in a wheelchair until she could stand unassisted on her leg. The bone growth was slow and DG was very impatient. Being left to her own devices for most of the day didn't help either. Azkadellia was swamped with princess duties and Glitch was out of the city researching brain transplant possibilities, so DG spent most of her days completely alone. Not being able to walk added insult to injury.

The royal seamstress fussed over DG like nobody's business and she barely got a word in edgewise as the woman fretted about how to design anything decent for DG to wear in her wheelchair. She didn't appreciate when DG joked about showing a lot of cleavage to make up for not being able to see the back of the dress.

Finally, DG convinced her to make something out of a wrinkle free fabric and she escaped to the library. Azkadellia sat in a plush chair with a giant book in her lap.

"Hey, Az," DG said. She pulled up next to her sister.

"Hi," the elder princess smiled.

"What are you up to?"

"Some light research," Az said.

"That's light?"

"Compared to some of the stuff I've been reading, this is a breeze. I feel like every waking moment, I am burying my nose in a book! There has to be an end to Ozian diplomacy someday, or I'll go crazy. Again!"

"Seriously. I can relate, except my equivalent would be this chair, and the fact that I am alone all the time." DG sighed.

"I'm sorry, Deeg, I should've been there for you—"

"You were. You sat with me all that time, and I don't feel like you deserted me," DG said. "It's just that I have only been in realm for a few months and I have no idea what to do with myself. The first people I got close to had to go back to work, so I really don't have any friends… God, I'm sorry. I know I should be thankful to be here and not be stuck in Kansas, but I am so BORED."

"Does this have something to do with Mr. Cain?" Az asked gently.

"What is his deal?" DG said, huffing.

"I have no idea," Azkadellia laughed. "I'm about 90% sure it has something to do with you, but I don't know anything on the matter. He begged me to sit by your side while you were unconscious and he did, for three weeks."

"Jeeze. He really did guard my body, huh?" the younger princess sat back against her chair and crossed her arms. "What do you mean, it has something to do with me?"

"He feels responsible for you, Deeg."

"But why? He knew me for like… three days before we got to the tower."

"I can think of… three possible scenarios. A. You're the youngest princess, and he promised the Mystic Man he'd protect you. B. You're like the daughter he never had—"

"He's not that old, Az." DG protested. She didn't look Az in the eye.

"Okay, I didn't say that was my favorite scenario," Az said.

"What's the third scenario?"

Az raised an eyebrow. DG looked up at her when she didn't speak. She squinted her eyes, while Az nodded.

"No… you don't really think…"

"I'm just saying, it would make sense."

"But—He's known me conscious for three-ish days!" DG said, putting a hand to her own cheek.

"Stranger things have happened, DG. I mean, think about it. Sure, he gave you a lot of space once the witch was beaten, but he still stuck around. And he was the first one there when you fell, he practically beat up the entire palace trying to make you heal faster, he begged me to look after you… It makes sense. He's in l—"

"Don't say it! If you say it, it'll be true, and I can't believe that." DG covered her ears. Az grabbed her wrist.

"Why not?" Az asked.

DG sighed for the fifth time and rubbed her eyes in frustration. She looked up at her sister.

"Because he left the second I woke up. And you don't leave people that you lo—you know." DG looked down at her lap.

"Well, if he does you-know-what you, is that really such a bad thing?" Az asked. She clasped DG's hand.

A few days later, Azkadellia and DG sat side-by-side in the grand ballroom as the Solstice ball kicked into high gear. The room was filled with dignitaries, foreign royals, and distinguished guests, including Raw and Glitch. Across from the four thrones of the house of Gale, a table stretched. It was covered in a dark grey cloth that approximated the color of the standard Tin Man uniform, and behind it sat the entire Tin Man board. They were ten men and women of distinguished rank who would be awarding badges to the latest graduates of the academy. There were also three empty chairs placed at the end of the table.

The graduates had yet to be announced and DG was on pins and needles about it. That also may have had something to do with the tight corset that was cinching her in, but it was largely due to the anticipation of hearing Wyatt Cain's name called. It was tradition that the graduates were announced at ten, and as such, DG asked Az every few seconds what time it was.

"9:53, Deeg. Relax," Az whispered.

"God, I swear, time is standing still!" DG looked across the room and tried to catch Jeb Cain's eye, but he seemed to be purposefully avoiding looking in her direction.

"Seven minutes and then we'll get the ball rolling," Ahamo said as un-annoyed as he could possibly muster, but that was difficult, considering how often DG had asked for the time. He was a patient man, but even he had limits.

"What could possibly have you so impatient?" Her mother asked.

"Nothing, I'm just bored. Balls are boring," DG replied.

"At least pretend like you're having a good time," The Queen said. "Who knows? You might find a husband here!"

Az elbowed DG in the ribs and did her best not to laugh.

"Ouch," DG whispered.

"What?" Az said innocently. DG shot her an angry glance but couldn't help herself; they both started to giggle. "9:59, Deeg."

"Thank god," DG said.

The royal trumpet trilled. The ten members of the Tin Man board stood and the ballroom hushed as the attendants parted to allow the graduates to enter down the grand staircase. A page entered with a metal chest and placed it on the table in front of Jeb. He and a woman crossed around to the front of the table and stood at attention. The woman picked up the chest and walked to the Queen's feet. She bowed.

"Your majesties, we would like to present to you the badges of this year's graduating class for your blessing," The woman said. She was named Command Sergeant Cara Seraph.

The Queen took the chest and handed it to a page that stood beside her. "We accept them. Call forth the graduates," she said.

Command Sergeant Seraph saluted and returned to Jeb's side. They exchanged a salute and she returned to her place behind the table. A page brought Jeb a scroll, which he unfurled.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the OZ. It is my honor to present to you the graduating class of the Tin Man academy, presented in order of rank. Private Lawrence Collins."

Private Lawrence Collins descended the stairs to an appropriate amount of applause and saluted the Queen. She pinned a badge on his chest and he stood at attention in front of the board's table. Jeb continued to call names and the more he called, the more impatient DG became. There were thirty graduating privates, fifteen private first class, five specialists, eight corporals, three sergeants, and still Wyatt Cain's name had not been called. DG chewed her lip.

"This concludes our under-ranking graduates," Jeb said. The attendees began to clap, but another page descended the stairs and handed the Queen a new chest after removing the old one.

"Now we shall name our three graduates who have gone above and beyond the call of duty," Jeb said, "Exhibiting grace under fire and a work ethic that has not been matched in the history of the academy. In ascending order of rank: Staff Sergeant James Julie."

The giant man DG had seen wheeled out of the weight room now descended the stairs, looking formidable and stoic. Unlike the privates, his uniform was white with charcoal piping. The Queen pinned a gold badge to his chest and he saluted.

"Staff Sergeant Michelle Cooland."

Staff Sergeant Cooland descended the stairs in her white uniform. She was a legend of the OZ for her incredible feats as a captain for the rebellion during the witch's reign. She joined the academy to prove what women were capable of, and she was just as mighty in person as DG imagined. Cooland saluted the Queen, was awarded her badge, and took her place beside Sergeant Seraph.

"And now, for the most outstanding graduate the academy has ever seen."

DG's stomach was doing somersaults.

"He has set the bar for what is achievable in our field. I am proud to introduce to you Sergeant First Class Wyatt Cain." Jeb couldn't help himself. He was beaming.

The youngest princess held her breath as Cain appeared at the top of the stairs. The attendees clapped in an uproar, but DG didn't hear it. She just saw the glorious man, absolutely resplendent in his dress whites. He saluted the Queen and she pinned his gold badge on his chest. He made eye contact with DG for a split second and she nearly fainted. She must have looked gobsmacked because Cain smiled slightly as he turned to face his son. Jeb saluted to his father and Cain returned it. Then Jeb embraced his father happily.

The ball continued, in spite of DG's sense of time stopping entirely when Cain entered the ballroom. Her eyes were completely drawn to him as he took his seat at the board's table. He looked… incredible.

As for DG, Cain thought she had never looked better. It was all he could do not to sneak out of the academy to check on her but he had resisted the temptation and it was worth it to see the look on her face when he descended. She was in a purple gown that just kissed the tops of her shoulders, but she wore it as if it was just a plain old t-shirt. She had color in her cheeks too, which was a vast improvement from the day he left her side to join the academy. Cain looked up and she was watching him. He couldn't decipher the look on her face; she was surprised, to be sure, but it wasn't merely shock that he saw there. DG blushed and looked away.

He knew she wouldn't be dancing tonight because her leg was still healing, but he wanted to dance with her more than anything. It was like a compulsion, like he wasn't even in control of his own body, and he stood. The rest of the ballroom was in full dancing splendor as the small orchestra played a waltz and many of the graduates were dancing with ladies, so no one questioned Cain when he left the table. As he approached the royals, Cain attempted to squash the pirouetting butterflies in his stomach.

"Sergeant Cain," The Queen beamed as he approached.

"Your majesty," He smiled, bowing.

"We are overjoyed for your success. You have overcome a great deal of obstacles to get to this place," Ahamo said.

"Thank you," Cain said.

"Are you a dancing man, Sergeant?" Azkadellia asked. DG attempted to discreetly shoot her a look. Granting Az time to talk to him privately was not a safe idea.

"I'm not," Cain said, to DG's relief.

"That's a pity," Az said. "DG can't dance anyway."

DG turned bright red and stared at Cain's feet. Cain turned bright red and stared at DG's hands. Az sat back, satisfied with herself.

"You're welcome to remain here and observe the dancing, Sergeant," The Queen said.

"Many thanks," Cain said. He sidestepped DG's chair and stood beside her at attention.

Many songs came and gone and they didn't speak. Jeb asked Azkadellia to dance, as did Glitch, Raw, and several graduates. DG was so happy that her sister was being treated like the beautiful and eligible princess she was, rather than the witch. As the ball was winding down, Azkadellia rarely returned to her seat as the graduates all tried to get in a dance with the princess. Ahamo even swept the Queen into a dance and left the wheelchair bound princess and the Sergeant alone.

"May I?" Cain asked softly as he stood beside DG.

She looked up at him, unsure if she had even heard him speak. "What?" She asked.

"May I—ahem—have this dance?" He asked.

"I'm not supposed to stand, you know that," DG said. "And you don't dance."

"That's true. I guess I'll just have to hold you up… and get over myself."

Before she knew what was happening, Cain snaked an arm around her waist and lifted her straight out of her chair like a feather.

"Oh! What are you doing?" she whispered as he took her hand.

"Dancing with you," he said.

"Oh God," DG said, turning bright red. She didn't have to wonder if the entire room was looking at them; she could feel the eyes on the back of her neck.

"Did I embarrass you?" he asked in her ear.

"Thoroughly."

"I apologize. I can put you back if you'd like."

"At this point," she said, "I don't think you could embarrass me any more than you would if you put me back in that stupid chair after pulling me out of it, so, dance on, Tin Man."

"I can think of a few ways," he murmured, but he didn't elaborate and DG didn't question him further.

The dance itself was a waltz and Cain sure knew how to do it. DG felt dizzy as he twirled her around the room. She was sure that if she could stand, her feet wouldn't have touched the ground anyway. She couldn't look at him without blushing, so she stared at the badge on his chest. The new, shiny, Sergeant First Class badge that he had spent the past two months proving he was worthy of wearing.

Something was very different about him. For one thing, he didn't run the opposite direction when he saw her, which was a change from the way things were before her accident. He was a pillar of strength and pure muscle, remarkably more so than he had been before. And handsome… well, she couldn't deny that. Wyatt Cain was attractive in a way none of the Kansas boys were, in a way that went so far beyond looks. Just this proximity, being held against his chest with one hand around his shoulder and the other clasped in his, this was comfort.

DG didn't realize that she had laid her cheek on his shoulder, or that he held her hand against his heart.


	4. Bickering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All they seem to do is bicker!

"You can't be her personal bodyguard, Dad. You're a Sergeant First Class, we need you in the field," Jeb said, shuffling through a massive pile of papers on his desk.

"The whole point of rejoining the academy was to prove I'm worthy of protecting the royal family," Cain said.

"And you'll do just that. From the front lines." Jeb stood, expecting that to be the last word.

Wyatt Cain crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at his only son. "I outrank you, son. You can't send me to war."

"The board can. I am on the board, and therefore, I can in fact do that," Jeb sighed. "Look, do you think this is easy for me? You're my father, I've watched what you've been going through. I know what you wanted out of all this, but that's not the way things work."

"I'll speak to the Queen about this," Cain said softly. "She has to know how important it is for me to stay. She can override the board."

"Yes, but she rarely does. Dad, can we be real about this for a second?" Jeb asked, walking to his office door and closing it. He motioned for his father to sit and both Cain men did so. "Why do you want to be private detail when you've just set major academy records and become one of the highest ranking Tin Men in the history of the OZ?"

"Because I know what it takes to protect the royal family, and I know what happens when the wrong people are assigned to that position," Cain replied. But his words were robotic, almost rehearsed. Jeb touched his father's arm.

"Is this about my mother?" Jeb asked softly.

Cain pulled his arm out of his son's grasp. "How would this concern your mother?"

"You feel guilty about what happened to her. I know you do, don't try to deny it. We both do. You couldn't protect her, and... you blame yourself for what happened to DG. Logic says you're just trying to protect the things you love," Jeb said.

"I love my Realm," Cain said. "This is my duty-"

"Not what I meant, Dad. I'm talking about a person. A princess, more specifically."

Wyatt Cain said nothing and his face betrayed nothing, but his fingers curled into a tight fist. Jeb sighed.

"You can relieve Mays as DG's detail until the 86th infantry returns to base. Then we need you on the front lines, doing your duty. Whether you like it or not," Jeb said. He stood and opened the door to his office.

The elder Cain nodded curtly and left the office, having said nothing else.

"Ow, ow, ow, okay- Gods, Cain! I can walk, now!" DG wrenched her arm out of her new bodyguard's vice grip.

"You are not supposed to be on the balcony unaccompanied," Cain said as calmly as his nervous would allow.

"I wasn't! You're hovering just inside the door, nothing can happen to me," the princess said, perching herself on the edge of her bed lightly. DG's strength had returned to her legs very slowly and she usually spent the latter part of her days in her wheelchair so as not to wear herself out entirely.

Cain had been her bodyguard less than a day and he had swiftly returned to the Tin Man of DG's first acquaintance; bossy, forceful, and tiresome. Exactly the opposite of the man that dazzled her at the Solstice ball. Yes, he had dazzled her. DG wouldn't admit it out loud, but she did at least allow herself to think it when he wasn't around. Lately, she hadn't thought about it much, because he was always standing about twenty feet away, staring at her. Through her. The sweet kindness in his eyes as he twirled her around the room was nothing more than a stolen fragment of a daydream that DG couldn't be sure had ever really happened.

"Are you tired?"

"No, I'm not tired," DG spat a bit too forcefully. "I'm bored. At least Hess let me sit on the balcony by myself."

"And we know how well that turned out," Cain said, seething. He wasn't mad at DG, but her willingness to be reckless was trying his patience. As far as he was concerned, DG's accident had happened mere days ago. Moments, even. He still saw her unconscious body in his sleep, mangled and covered in blood. He woke up in cold sweats, practically screaming her name.

The night after the Solstice ball, he hadn't slept at all; his skin hummed with the electric memory of holding DG in his arms on the dance floor, her cheek on his shoulder. He wished every night in a kind of desperate prayer that her cheek would find its way back to the place it was made to rest: right above Wyatt Cain's tin heart.

"Gods, you're not even listening to me!" DG said. She didn't huff like she would have when they first met. She spoke with a quiet intensity, accusingly even. The princess stood slowly on her weak legs.

Cain gulped and folded his hands in front of his body to wall himself off from her. It was no good because DG could dissolve his fronts with one single glance from under those mink lashes. She was significantly shorter and weaker than him, but her ferocity alone backed Cain into the armchair beside the fire. She leaned over him, bracing her hands on the arms of the chair and narrowing her eyes.

"Something is really wrong with you," she said softly. "You're twice as stern as you were when Glitch and I let you out of the suit; you bark orders at me like I'm some kind of dog! I need you to answer some questions, right this second."

"Now?"

"Now, or I might never speak to you again," DG whispered.

Cain nodded once, expecting DG to take a step back, but she didn't move.

"Why did you rejoin the academy?" she asked gently.

"To retrain according to the new weaponry and endurance codes," he replied.

"Bullshit. What's the non-rehearsed reason?"

He raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to give her more bullshit. Cain closed his mouth and thought of an acceptable answer.

"To get my tin back." He sighed.

"That's the reason?"

"That's it." Cain crossed his arms across his chest.

DG narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to her lying bodyguard. "I don't believe you."

"That's not my problem. Believe what you want, that is the truth." Cain tried not to breathe in because the scent of DG's soap was absolutely arresting. If he dropped his gaze a few inches, he would have a clear view of DG's décolletage and the thought of getting caught staring down her shirt was petrifying.

DG knelt beside his knees in a strangely familiar manner. It was entirely dishonorable to sit higher than the crown princess and Cain gripped the arms of the chair to stand. But then DG's hand came to rest on his knee and the tin man froze.

"I need you to do something for me," she said so softly, he almost couldn't be sure he heard her. "Whatever I ask of you, you have to know how much I need it. Only you can do this for me, you're the only one I trust."

"Anything." He spoke before his brain could even be rational about the possibilities of her request. DG took his hand and pulled him to stand with her.

"Go outside with me," she suggested.

Cain hesitated for a moment and then crossed the short distance to the balcony doors. He opened one door cautiously, canvasing the surrounding view for any visible threats. When the coast was clear, Cain opened the door for DG and she joined him on the balcony. She tried to step closer to the railing but he caught her arm gently.

"Sorry, Princess. This is all the further I'll let you go."

"Fine, I understand," she said.

"That's what you wanted?" Cain asked, slightly relieved.

DG looked down at her hands and cracked one of her knuckles. Without thinking, he stilled her hand with his own. Cain seemed shocked when she grasped his hand tighter and held it to her heart.

"No, that's not it," DG said finally.

"What is it, kiddo?" Cain asked. He leveled his eyes with hers and felt his over-protective front melt away.

The princess was nose-to-nose with the tin man now. She looked straight into his blue, unflinching eyes, and sighed. "I need you to kiss me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh! ;)


	5. Grasping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They want the same thing, but it's not so easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love fluffy-fluff. *sigh*

Gobsmacked. Wyatt Cain was gobsmacked.

The Princess who he had dreamed about and desperately worked his way through the academy to protect had just asked him to kiss her. She needed it.

And Gods be damned if he hadn't been thinking about it too. Since the day he met DG, Cain had felt his energy shift from focusing on avenging his wife's murder… to protecting the youngest princess. He wasn't comfortable with that shift at all; the fact that he rarely thought of Adora anymore made Cain's stomach churn with guilt. She was his first love, the mother of his son, and that kind of love could only be reserved for one woman.

But a second emotion had emerged in him of late, starting the moment that DG's body left the balcony on that horrible day. Never in his life had Wyatt Cain felt so compelled to care for someone. It didn't have a name, this blind zing of electricity that shot through his body every time he looked at her. When she opened her eyes for the first time after being unconscious, Cain knew he was done for. Well, perhaps he didn't know it at the time, but Wyatt Cain certainly knew it now, standing nose-to-nose with the girl who had set him on fire. His skin was humming with the promise of what might happen if he granted her request. Or worse, what fire would go out inside if he didn't.

DG wasn't a kid anymore. Cain didn't lust after her in the way he had for Adora in his youth. He yearned for DG. His every waking second was devoted to controlling his impulse to do just what she asked; to try it, see if the electric pop would explode between them, or burn even brighter. He almost kissed her at the ball, in front of the whole Tin Man academy, in front of her parents, without having declared his feelings – yes. That was it. He couldn't deny it now.

Wyatt Cain had serious, finger-tingling feelings for Princess DG. He felt more intimate with her at that moment, sharing a silent pause, than he had ever felt with a woman before. And he was scared.

DG searched his eyes for any hint of what he was thinking, but she couldn't read him at all. For all she knew, he was planning an elaborate exit plan. He shifted in his boots ever so slightly and the hairs on DG's arms stood on end. He had that effect on her. Even when she was unconscious, she had an indescribable sense of calm. When she awoke to see the bewildered and bedraggled Tin Man staring at her, it was through a new set of eyes; the eyes of a woman who had seen death. Before the accident, DG had been careless with her heart and never reacted to things in a reasonable manner, but now she felt safe and at peace. Standing nose-to-nose with the man who had given her a second chance at life, DG felt strong. Brave.

In the end, neither the courageous princess nor the cowardly tin man knew who moved first. Perhaps they moved as one blinding force of energy, but all we know is that their lips touched.

Wyatt Cain sat on DG's balcony for a long time by himself. After the kiss, he had felt a shift and it bothered him deeply. He didn't know what had changed, other than the entire dynamic of his relationship with the princess… unless – yes. DG had become his whole world. Thinking about it now, it seemed obvious. From the second she fell, he had wanted nothing more than to hold her and make everything all right again. He joined the academy to protect her, became the best man he could be. All for her.

It's as if he hadn't even been himself. Or maybe, he had become someone new that he did not recognize. Either way, he couldn't find words to explain any of this to the woman in question. Instead, he just excused himself softly to ponder his very existence outside on the balcony. Except, he felt like a bumbling idiot! A man that prided himself on always having it together had completely fallen apart in a matter of a kiss.

He didn't even hear DG open the balcony door. But he felt her.

She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tuck into the safety of his barrel chest, but she didn't. Instead, DG placed a small hand on his shoulder. Cain covered her hand with his own. Neither one of them spoke for several minutes. Finally, he sighed very softly.

"I have to go with the next set of troops," Cain murmured.

"Oh," she replied.

"Yeah."

DG turned her palm over in his large hand and laced her fingers with his. "Have to?"

"Yes. Apparently I did too well in the academy," he said.

"You're the best they've ever seen," DG said. "Of course they need you."

"But that's not what I want," Cain huffed, standing. He released DG's hand and paced angrily.

"What do you want, Wyatt?" the princess asked, sitting in the chair he had just occupied.

Hearing his name on her lips was like an answered prayer. Cain stopped walking and turned towards her slowly.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do," DG soothed, smiling. "You wouldn't be here if that were true."

"DG," he sighed. "I think I'm going crazy. Being in the academy gave me something to take my mind off things, but I don't think I'm right in the head. I haven't been for a while."

"I know."

"I know you know. And it's freaking me out a little bit," he said, running a hand over his face.

"That you know that I know that you know?" DG laughed. She stood and pulled her robe around herself.

Cain felt like he might dissolve into a puddle of melted tin any second. The fact that he had shared a kiss with this woman, and that she seemed to see right through him was a combination of dangers that he wasn't quite prepared to face. As she stepped closer, Cain crossed his arms over his chest.

DG looked out over the land that surrounded the palace. "The last time I spent any real time up here, I stood right here and watched you avoid me in the gazebo," she said, pointing to the little white structure about two hundred yards off. "I knew you were there because I smelled your cigar. But I wished you were here with me instead, and that has been pretty clear to me for a while."

"What's a while?" Cain asked.

"Since the moment you hugged me in the forest, before we went into the tower. I wanted you by my side, but I knew that everything we were about to face might tear us apart. I don't know why I felt that way, but it hasn't gone away since. And I knew you had problems when I met you, and I know you don't have it all together, and that's okay." DG smoothed a wrinkle below Cain's collar.

"I don't know what this – " Cain gestured between himself and DG. " – this thing is."

"Neither do I. But I'm willing to bet it's more than a friendship, and less than a relationship, and I'm okay with not answering that today," she said, putting a hand on his arm.

Cain felt a calming energy pass through his skin and he allowed himself to smile a bit. Not enough to afford the princess his pearly whites, but a kind smile, that said he forgave her for breaking through his shell, and that he forgave himself for letting her.

The tin man took her hand and held it at his side, an extension of himself. And when she looked up at him, he knew what she was asking before she said it, so he spared her the words and kissed her for the second time that night. It was a promise, and one that he would very soon break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whatcha think? Will he do the right thing by her?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cain is called away, and DG doesn't want to let him go. Azkadellia sees Jeb clearly--but will she let herself get to know him? Will DG find away to stay close to Cain?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there were anything in Tin Man featuring Az and Jeb, I probably wouldn't have been into the pairing, but the more fic I read, the more I super duper like them together. What do you think?

"All this emotion giving Raw a headache," the lion-man said, rubbing his temples. He sat at a large oval table in the palace meeting room with Azkadellia, Glitch, and DG.

"Sorry," DG said softly.

"Do not apologize for feeling. Raw not used to it, that's all," Raw reassured the younger princess. She wrinkled her nose and Raw backtracked.

"Raw not saying DG emotionless normally, just upset right now."

"It's okay, Raw, I know what you meant," DG said. She stood up but Azkadellia caught her arm.

"Don't look out there. You know you'll see him," Az murmured, as if to keep secret the most obvious thing of all: DG's heart was leaving with the troops in a manner of moments.

"I won't," DG said, gently removing her arm from Az's grasp. "I'm going to the Library. Send for me when it's time for supper."

The youngest Princess left the meeting room slowly, resisting every urge to glance over her shoulder at the Tin Men being inspected in front of the palace. Once the door closed behind her, Glitch waited a whole two seconds before sighing dramatically.

"Well, I for one think that all this build up is completely unfair. Cain went from being a near headcase to one of the highest ranking Tin Men, and all for DG, and now they can't be together. That certainly puts a bee in my bonnet." Glitch crossed his arms and chewed his lip.

"Glitch," Az warned. "Nobody can know about that. We only know because Raw can't keep his mouth shut once he reads something." She raised an eyebrow at the lion-man. "As far as Cain is concerned, we have to do whatever we can to show that the royal family does not play favorites."

"We do if we love people!" Glitch snapped.

"You're not of Gale blood," Raw said.

"And I suppose you are, fur-ball?" Glitch retorted. "Who's your mum, the family Manx?"

Glitch and Raw stood simultaneously, fists raised and prepared to jab. Azkadellia rolled her eyes.

"That is enough. Cain's absence is going to tear DG apart. We can't let it get to us too, or she won't have anybody," Az said.

"I've a mind to bury my head in the occult shelves in the Library," Glitch said.

"You better look up spells for fixing brains," Raw muttered.

"Don't bother DG," Az said.

"I won't. I plan to commiserate with her." Glitch turned on his heel and made it halfway to the door before turning back and snatching the box of facial tissues on the table. "Just in case commiseration means leaking from the eyeballs." The Queen's ex-advisor left the meeting room.

Azkadellia stood as Raw sat back down in his chair, but he quickly stood again.

"Highness must excuse Raw," he said. "Improper to be alone with elder princess."

The elder princess studied Raw's face, which seemed to be slightly matted from nervous sweat. He was afraid of her. It caught her off-guard; lately, people treated her like the princess she was, ceremoniously bowing and addressing her with "your highness" but rarely did she see fear in any of their eyes. Until today, Azkadellia didn't remember a time in recent days that Raw had shown his fear of her, but then, the witch had wronged him and his people in horrendous ways. A witch that wore Azkadellia like a shroud. Or a crown. Raw's fear radiated and Azkadellia hastened to the window so he wouldn't be able to tell that she knew.

"You may go, Raw," she said evenly, but her hidden face twisted in humiliation.

Raw bowed to Azkadellia's turned back and fled the room. She didn't know why Raw's fear hurt her so; perhaps she hadn't let herself dwell on all that she went through, the life that she spent with powerful fingers wrapped around her throat. Nothing beyond the window was in focus as everything welled to the surface. Her mind began rolling through every sordid memory from her possession to the vanquishing of the witch; she saw every soul escaping from her victims, saw every life leave their eyes. Azkadellia flung open the window and emptied the contents of her stomach into the garden below.

The door opened.

"Oh, my apologies," Jeb Cain said, averting his eyes as Az frantically cleaned herself up.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Az gasped, acknowledging Jeb's newly appointed promotion. She felt horrendously embarrassed; tears still poured from her eyes and she had just thrown up out the window. And he had seen her. "It's all right. What is it?"

"Raw said I would find you here," he said softly, taken aback by the feral look in her eye.

"He's afraid of me," she said before she could stop herself. Az slapped a hand over her mouth and slid down the wall as a heavy sob wracked through her chest.

"Whoa, there," Jeb said, going to her side. He helped her move to an armchair beside the table and knelt beside it, producing his own handkerchief from his uniform pocket.

"Don't tell anyone you saw me like this," Az whispered. "Please. Nobody."

"Nobody," he repeated. "I promise."

It was easy in the throws of weakness to let Jeb dry her cheeks. Azkadellia closed her eyes and let him chase away the tears that hadn't yet dropped from her eyelashes. Nobody in her life had truly tended to her or touched her with tenderness. She felt a hesitant finger swipe the soft handkerchief at the corner of her mouth. Az opened her eyes. Jeb's were affixed to the curve of her bottom lip.

"Don't kiss me," she whispered.

Jeb didn't move away, nor did he remove his hand from her face. He wasn't planning on trying to kiss her, he just looked her square in the eye. Azkadellia read no fear there.

"The Queen and Consort wanted to invite you to accompany the escorting party with them as far as the Emerald City," Jeb said. "But you are needed here, which I will tell them. It would not do for you to go on a three day journey when the palace cannot possibly spare you."

"What are you talking about?" Az asked, wishing very much that Jeb would remove his gentle hand from her cheek before she dissolved into tears again.

"Forgive me," he said softly, "Permission to speak freely?"

"Please."

"Neither princess has been able to heal fully… and unless you have contracted Papay Influenza, I think that your sickness is an indication of that. Would I be wrong in thinking so?" Jeb asked.

Azkadellia shook her head slightly. Jeb removed his hand from her cheek and pocketed his handkerchief, despite the fact that it was soaked with salty tears. His next movement betrayed him a little and Azkadellia caught it. Subtly, his eyes flicked to the window and the worry crease between his eyes deepened.

"Did you say goodbye?" Az asked frankly.

"I have many duties in the palace with the changing of the guard; I confess I did not have a chance." Jeb checked his timepiece distractedly.

"He's your father," Az said. The rest of her sentiment went unvoiced.

"Did she say goodbye?" Jeb replied.

Azkadellia didn't answer because Jeb already knew. After Cain told her of his impending deployment, DG had virtually isolated herself from him, even requested a new bodyguard. It didn't take a viewer to know that DG's rejection cut Cain to the core. Jeb had assigned a lesser private to DG's detail, a competent and detached man called Britton. Cain had spent far too much time stalking around Jeb's office. Nobody knew they had kissed, or that he had retracted his affection for her shortly thereafter. DG had called him a coward, and she was right.

Wyatt Cain had been called a lot of things in his 40 years: Ass. Jerk. Jerk Ass. Ozians were creative. Antoine DeMilo had called him a Bibliophile during a raid once. Cain was positive that DeMilo hadn't intended to call him a book lover. The Tin Man had thick skin but every once in a while, somebody zinged him good. His wife had called him 'sweet' before they were married; Adora knew just how to make him blush, and Tin Men do not blush.

When the witch came to power, a whole new side of Cain reared its head. He had a wife and a son to protect; his men called him 'stubborn' and 'deadly' but that didn't faze him. It wasn't until Zero called Cain 'weak' as he held Adora by the throat that Cain was brought to his knees.

Yet, somehow even that hadn't stung as much DG calling him a 'disgrace', 'hopeless'… 'coward.'

Coward. Coward. It echoed in the back of his mind like a chime ticking off the minutes until the troops left Finaqua. As the men awaited the Queen's inspection, many approached Cain to shake the hand of the greatest Tin Man in the realm. Everybody in the Gods-forsaken realm knew of Wyatt Cain! The valiant Tin Man who had single-handedly delivered the lost Princess Dorothy-Gale to the OZ (never mind Raw and Glitch, everybody loves the gun-wielding hero), man. He was a legend. And a coward.

Cain stood at the head of his division and his travelling uniform was chaffing at the collar. He was doing everything he could to focus his eyes on the horizon and stand at attention, but the ever-growing pit in his stomach made him desperate to return to the palace and corner DG, where he could apologize wordlessly. He didn't know what had made him tell her that he wasn't able to give her anything, that he couldn't handle the pressure while he lead the troops abroad. Cain clenched his fists until his nails bit into his palms. He wanted to look over his shoulder to see if she was watching from the balcony, or better yet, from the window where she couldn't fall. The Queen and Consort would be accompanying the troops to the Emerald City and Cain wished DG was going too, but then he reminded himself that he wouldn't have gotten a chance to talk to her anyway.

The Queen and Consort inspected his division and gave high marks for their presentation. Cain's men were the cream of the crop; his men would be solely responsible for guerrilla tactics near the four entrances of the Realm of the Unwanted. These men were ruthless and incredibly dedicated, and in spite of his phenomenal performance in the academy, Cain felt his dedication slipping. He doubted his ability to lead these men and remain focused.

Just then, as the Queen and Consort moved towards the next division, Cain spied a lithe streak in ill-fitting travel blues, darting behind the medical wagon. He narrowed his eyes and gestured for his second in command, Fellowes.

The lesser man saluted and Cain turned on his heel to investigate. He approached the wagon carefully, as it lay on the outskirts of the presentation. The closest division was nearly fifty yards from the wagon, so it seemed unlikely that one of the men had gone to check on something. Cain put his hand over his gun as he stepped around the far side of the wagon. A huddled clump sat next to the front wheel.

"Now, don't try anything," Cain warned in a low, terse tone.

The figure wheeled around in surprise and Cain's mouth zipped in a tight line as he saw who really stood before him. Quickly, Cain grabbed the lapel of the intruder's over-sized coat and hastened them both behind a nearby tree.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cain growled, his face centimeters from his captive's. Before he knew what was happening, Cain felt her soft lips touch his. A wordless apology. DG wrapped her arms around his neck so he couldn't pull away, and likewise, Cain's arms wound themselves around her waist. Soft kisses turned sensual and open-mouthed as he pressed her against the tree trunk. An abrupt and distant whistle broke Cain's trance and he pulled back from DG. He peeked around the tree quickly to see that the divisions had been given the signal to take up their packs and ready themselves for the walk to the Emerald City.

"I have to go," Cain said.

"I know," DG whispered. "I'm sorry. You're not a coward."

Cain looked down at DG in surprise. "I am a coward."

"No, you're not. I pushed you too far too soon. I want to come with you."

"You can't, you're the crown princess of the OZ – "

"I can! Ozian rule states that the heir to the Ozian throne may serve as Regent to the militia if it is deemed necessary," DG said, grasping Cain's lapels. "You're going to need all the help you can get. I need you. There is no negative to this situation – "

"Except the one, little, tiny thing that you could get killed!" Cain said, stepping back from DG reluctantly.

"Then don't put me on the front lines! I'll work as a medic."

"Your parents will never okay that."

DG sighed. "I can't sit at home in a pretty dress waiting for you to come back in one piece. At least if something happens to you, I could be there to take care of you."

"DG…" Cain too sighed and ran a heavy hand over his hair. "In a perfect world – "

"Tell me you don't want me to come," DG said bluntly.

Cain looked at her and crossed his arms. "I want you to come. I want to be able to watch over you constantly, but I can't do that even if you DO come with. I might not see you for days or weeks at a time and if something happens to you, I can't take care of you."

"I hate how important you are," DG said, but her tone wasn't bratty or demanding. In fact, the only juvenile thing about DG's manner in this whole situation was her method of joining the troops. It was a vastly different experience reasoning with this princess verses the girl Cain had escorted through the realm when they first met.

"Okay. Here's how it's going to be," Cain began.

DG started to smile but Cain held up a hand.

"You can come, IF you go with the accompanying royal carriage AND you get permission from your parents. If you're going to be with me, I want you with me legitimately," he said.

"I want to be with you," she replied, and Cain didn't know if they were talking about the same thing anymore.

Cain wanted to close the conversation with some kind of declaration, but he wasn't about to tell the heir to the Ozian throne that he loved her. However much he felt that, and however relieved he was that they were on good terms again, that word was not one to be taken lightly. The last women he said it to met a heartbreaking end and Cain didn't want to jinx anything.

"May your hearth be warm," DG said.

He couldn't help himself; Cain smiled in surprise. "And your smoke be blue."

DG leaned up to kiss him and then she was gone in a flash, sprinting toward the side door that she had slipped out of in the first place. As Cain watched her go, he couldn't help but feel heaviness on his shoulders, but he shook it off and returned to his division, where Fellowes was waiting with Cain's horse, Cabrio. As he mounted his pinto, Cain hoped that reconciling with DG wasn't a huge mistake. At least if they were fighting, she might have stayed home and safe. But together, on the front lines, they were each other's weakness. If something happened to DG… Cain was fairly certain harm would come to him too, and probably at his own hand. Regret clung to his heart and Cain sighed. The most compromising thing Wyatt Cain had ever done was fall for a princess, and it was about to make his life very dangerous.


	7. Hiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DG has managed to stay close to Cain, but it could cost her a limb. Cain has no idea the true danger DG is in; all he knows is that he wants to get closer.

The Queen sat silently in the rocking carriage, faithful husband by her side, trying to wrap her head around the request DG had made. How could she possibly justify letting her youngest daughter serve as Regent? The scope of possible dangers was unknown. The soldiers would have enough to worry about without a princess to watch over, especially one so prone to trouble. Besides, DG was still delicate after her accident. Lately, DG's maid had told the queen that the princess spent her evenings with Raw, trying to gain more strength in her legs. Despite what DG told her mother, she was still recovering, and that increased her vulnerability ten-fold.

"We must allow her to go, my love," Ahamo said gently.

"What sort of mother am I, what sort of Queen, if I allow my daughter to walk into danger?" she asked.

"She will never forgive us," he said, taking her hand. "And then we'll have the pleasure of her constant sulking attitude at every meal, or she'll lock herself in her room, never to be seen again, or she will run away, and we won't have the slightest clue where she is. At least if we let her go, we'll have daily reports of her whereabouts."

"She is not strong enough."

"Nonsense. She is your daughter. She is strong enough."

The Queen pulled her hand from her husband's and patted it. "You have too much faith in her, and me."

"Darling, I don't think I have to tell you that she loves our illustrious Wyatt Cain," the Consort said.

"Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have let him stay in Finaqua as her bodyguard?"

"I think it is too late to consider what could have been. As it stands now, he is vital to our efforts near the Realm of the Unwanted, and to the future happiness of our daughter," Ahamo said.

The carriage lept and bumped the Queen and Consort together.

"We've arrived, your majesties," the carriage driver said from outside.

"Well?" Ahamo said.

Cain stalled as long as he possibly could at the outpost, waiting for word about Princess DG. She wasn't with the accompanying party, like he had hoped, and the Queen was mum about whether or not DG would be made Regent. He sent Fellowes ahead with his men when the suns were high in the sky; they would be reconvening twenty miles North to make camp and meet with Sergeant Mel Harper, the man Cain would be replacing. The sun was setting when three figures rode towards the outpost and away from the Emerald City stables. Two of the riders wore travel blues, but the third wore a deep purple cloak that billowed behind. When the riders reached the outpost, Cain realized that the cloaked person was the youngest princess, who seemed to be trying very hard not to grin.

"Your highness," Cain said, bowing.

DG wrinkled her nose at the formality. "Sergeant Cain," she said. "I will be acting Regent until peace can be established in the Realm of the Unwanted."

"Peace may not be established for some time, Princess," Cain said, mounting his horse.

"I am prepared." DG's eyes sparkled in the waning light.

Cain felt a surge of pride. "We have a long journey ahead. Best save your preparedness for that." He tipped his hat and DG smiled, but said nothing.

Were it not for the two soldiers escorting them, the conversation might have turned to the fact that Cain loved her, or the fact that DG's legs were still very weak and she had been growing increasingly less mobile. She wanted desperately to be of some use as Regent, without showing weakness. If she were bound to her wheelchair, she knew Cain would force her to go back to Finaqua. Glitch had built a back support for her saddle to relieve her legs on the journey, in the hopes that she could stand once they reached camp, as long as was required. DG felt her leg beginning to ache but she ignored it in favor of listening to Cain brief her about the situation in the Realm of the Unwanted.

By the time they reached the encampment, DG was weary. Lucky for her, Wyatt was still attentive as ever and saw that she was tired. Unfortunately, the Regent's tent had not been prepared because the Queen had not sent advanced word. The only sleeping quarters available to her that offered privacy was the Sergeant's tent, where Cain was supposed to be sleeping.

"Sergeant Cain, I will not rob you of your bed," DG said calmly, though she felt quite frustrated. Eight soldiers gathered around her, along with Sergeant Harper and Cain.

"He doesn't need sleep, highness," Harper chuckled. "He's a Tin Man! Trained insomniacs, every one of us! Take the bed, you'll appreciate it when real conflict comes and sleep is scarce."

Harper bowed to DG and exited the medical tent where they were currently convened. The eight privates followed him out, leaving DG alone with Cain. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I will send for the Regent's tent tomorrow," Cain said to her, smiling slightly.

"Where will you sleep?" DG asked as she crossed her arms.

"I have many options, Princess." He closed the distance between them but did not touch her. "I'm glad you're here."

"So am I," she whispered, smiling.

"You'd better get to sleep. All the men answer to you."

"Even you?" DG asked, tapping his badge.

"Especially me." Cain clenched his fist to avoid touching her, because anyone could walk in.

"Then sleep in your own bed."

"Will you be in it?" he whispered.

DG raised an eyebrow, but she did not blush. "We should've had this conversation in Finaqua, where there were doors with locks." She ran a finger down Cain's arm until he involuntarily shivered. DG stepped away from Cain and curtseyed, something she never would have done when she first arrived in the OZ. Then, she turned on her heel and lifted the flap of the medical tent.

"Goodnight, Sergeant Cain," she said, letting the flap fall closed behind her.

Cain resisted the urge to pull his lady back into the tent, but then, she wasn't his. The words had not been said. There would be no safe place to say them, either, not for some time. Prying ears were everywhere; Cain would lose the respect of his men if they knew of his affection for the new Regent. But just then, standing inches from her, both insinuating what they wanted… it was enough. For now. When they were once again in the vicinity of a locked door, Cain would be happy to show her exactly how she made him feel.

After a count of twenty, Cain exited the medical tent. The silhouette of the retreating Princess walked to the Sergeant's tent, and he followed, but stopped when he reached the door. Four men were already stationed around the perimeter of the tent, and tonight, Sergeant First Class Wyatt Cain would stand watch while the woman he loved, the crown princess of the OZ, slept.

DG, on the other hand, struggled to stand. The tent was furnished with a desk and a chair, both of which she used as crutches to reach the small bed. She tried to keep her heavy breathing to a minimum so the soldiers outside wouldn't hear her struggling. Once she was seated, DG lifted her legs onto the bed with her hands and lifted up her riding dress to examine them. The right leg looked normal, but the skin above her left knee was sallow and swollen.

"Guard," she called, covering her legs and sitting up as straight as she could.

A moment later, Cain pulled open the flap of the tent and entered. "Yes, your highness," he said.

"What are you doing here?" she mouthed.

"I'm your guard," he replied, smiling.

"Of course," DG said, internally berating herself. Cain was a soldier here, not a friend who could wander as he pleased.

"Is there ice in the camp?" DG asked in her normal voice.

"I believe there is in the medical tent, but not for much longer. We cannot keep things frozen on the road," Cain said.

"No, I suppose not. Would you fetch me a cup of ice?" she asked, hoping he would not ask her why she wanted it.

"Certainly, highness," he replied, though he furrowed his eyebrows. He disappeared, then returned a few minutes later with a large tin cup full of ice chips.

"I wouldn't eat the ice, Princess, but it will do no harm for sore feet," Cain said as he placed the cup on the desk.

"That's just what I need it for," DG said quickly. "I haven't gotten used to my new riding boots yet."

"Can I do anything else for you, your highness?"

"No, thank you, Sergeant," she said, but she held out her hand.

He clasped her hand and DG pulled him down to her level. Cain knelt before her on one knee and touched her cheek. Softly, she pressed her lips to his and graced her fingers down his chest. Cain grasped her wrists to stop her, but one of her hands dropped to his belt and he froze. DG pulled the same hand free of his grasp and stroked down his thigh. Cain broke away from her mouth with a grin and shook his head. The princess pulled her hands away reluctantly, smiling as he stood and bowed to her.

"Goodnight," He said softly, placing his hand over his heart.

"Goodnight, Wyatt Cain," DG replied, mimicking his gesture.

Cain backed out of the tent, trying to adjust his pants that had mysteriously shrunk, and pulled himself together. He winked at her and then left the tent.

DG bit her lip happily, throwing her legs over the bed and standing to retrieve the cup. Her left leg instantly gave out and DG fell against the desk. She grasped the wood as tightly as she could, but she couldn't pull herself up to stand. The fall had driven the corner of the desk into her side, which hindered DG's ability to push against the desk for strength. Finally, near tears, she pulled herself into the chair. Apparently none of her watch had heard the fall, blessedly, so DG risked remaining in the chair to ice her leg.

Her skin was uncommonly hot, which caused the ice to melt quickly. Once it was all gone, DG dragged herself into bed, where she fell asleep promptly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep reading for more sexy times with DG and Cain... and let me know what you think!


	8. Warming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cain admits why he's fought so hard for her, and DG hesitates. When they're forced to flee, DG must admit her weakness.

The night wrapped it's frigid shade around the sleeping princess. DG shook violently in her sleep as her body fought to stay warm. Soon enough, the cold began working its way into her dreams and DG began talking in her sleep. Wyatt Cain ducked his head inside the tent when he heard his name murmured faintly.

"Your highness?" he said softly.

The princess didn't reply, but her body writhed under the thin blanket. Cain furrowed his brow and closed the tent flap.

"DG," he said a bit louder. She let out a faint whimper. Cain knelt beside the bed and touched her cheek. Her skin was chilled and taut, a combination that felt brittle beneath his well trained hands. In all the times he had touched DG's skin, it had always felt supple and warm. "Hey," he said, shaking DG's shoulder. "Your highness!"

The Regent's eyes snapped open, blood-shot, and dilated. She pulled the scratchy wool blanket tightly beneath her chin and shuddered. "Wh-what do you want?" she asked softly,

"You're freezing," Cain whispered.

"Wh-what was your fi-first clue?" she replied, glaring at him.

Cain smiled in spite of the Princess' sour expression. "Would you like me to get you another blanket?"

"What kind of Regent am I if I can't sleep in the same conditions as my men?" DG spoke slowly to keep her teeth from chattering.

"DG," he chuckled. "These beds are made for hardened soldiers who have been trained to sleep on stone slabs, with only the clothes on their backs to warm them. When the Regent's tent arrives, you will sleep on feathers, under silk and furs. Nobody expects you to sleep like we do."

"I've never seen you sleep," she growled.

"You've never asked," Cain said, raising an eyebrow.

DG opened her mouth to answer, but nothing adequate came out. "You've been doing that a lot."

"Doing what?"

"Insinuating."

"In regards to…?"

"You know what I mean!" DG said, nearly full voice, but then calmed herself. "It's not safe to say those thing here, where one of your men could hear you."

"My men are nothing but loyal to me."

"Cain, the Council will remove me from the field if I am compromised in any way. That's what Mother said."

"And my insinuations are going to compromise you?" he said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"In every possible way," she said. A look of understanding passed between them. She meant it, in every possible sense. DG looked away as pearling tears threatened. She had not meant to cry, but a tremendous heaviness sat in her chest. If DG's affections for Cain were revealed to the Council, she would be declared an emotional liability to Cain, which could result in his demotion and her banishment from his side. The princess was desperately frustrated; the two of them would have gotten grief on the Otherside for their age difference, but that's all. The only person who'd take issue with the Tin Man would be Gulch, because Cain would probably hunt him down for the way he'd treated DG in the past. Their relationship, whatever it was turning into, would have plenty of room to grow, and plenty of locked doors to explore behind.

This man gave her no reason to doubt just how far he was willing to explore with her, but she was still the crown princess of the OZ. Her father might have been a slipper, but he wasn't the Council's idea of a perfect Consort. Wyatt Cain as Consort might make the Council crap their proverbial trousers.

"I'm sorry," Cain said.

"Don't be."

"How about that blanket?" he asked. DG nodded slightly, but her gaze remained fastened to the corner of the tent opposite him.

Cain stood up and left the tent. As he walked to the Medical Tent, Cain wondered how he could ever have thought that things might be more open with DG out there on the brink of battle. War, at least the potential for it, made him honest, and he wanted to tell her all the things he had dreamed of doing with her. To her. All that he was at that moment came down to DG, and what he had done to be by her side. It never occurred to him that something outside of his control might tear them apart. Something as simple as telling her that he loved her, and someone else overhearing.

A softer blanket was a hopeless cause, but Cain found a thicker one in a trunk in the medical tent. He returned to his own tent, where the Princess of the OZ. and Regent to the militia lay, freezing. Cain felt it best if he returned to full time bodyguard duties, at least at night, until his division was engaged in combat, so he sent all of DG's other guards away and entered the tent alone. She didn't look at him.

He gripped the edge of the blanket tightly, at once feeling sixteen years old. "Deeg?"

"Hmm."

Cain stepped a bit closer and laid the blanket over DG. "Here, this will help."

"Thanks," she murmured, turning over on her side and facing away from him.

"DG," Cain started, and then sighed. He unbuckled his holster, placed it on the desk, and sat in the chair beside it. He removed his hat as well and ran a hand through his hair.

"I know that I've been a little… frank about my feelings for you lately, especially since you called me a coward—and you were right to say so, I am still afraid of what might happen to you again. Truth is, seeing you fall from that balcony hurt me. I joined the academy again because I felt like it was my fault that you fell. But I won't deny that having you here makes me more worried than ever. I want to be with you, and I want you safe, but I don't know if I can have both of those things. I think you shouldn't have come, if I'm being honest." Cain rubbed his stubbly chin. "I don't want you to go, because I want to see you every day. I want to kiss you when somebody might see. I want to be someone that you deserve, but I can't. I'm the head of this whole operation, not to mention about as poor as a church mouse, and the Council wouldn't—um, they don't seem to like me much. I don't know whether to send you home or keep you here, because either way, I'm being selfish."

Cain thought the princess had fallen asleep. He smiled slightly and sat back in the chair in defeat. Then, she spoke softly.

"I'm still cold."

"Do you want another—"

"Come here, please," she said, pulling back the covers beside her. She still had her back to him, but she looked over her shoulder when he didn't answer. "Wyatt."

He stood hesitantly. "I don't think—"

"Good, don't think. Are you going to stand there and let me freeze?" A touch of amusement graced her voice. "You asked me if I'd be in your bed and I am."

Cain walked to the bed and sat on the edge, internally debating whether he ought to take his shoes off. He decided not to, lying down slowly beside DG. Of its own volition, his arm curled around her waist and he fitted his form to the shape of hers.

"You're an idiot," she said quietly, chuckling.

"I am," he agreed, quite close to her ear.

"You are. You tell me you want me to come with you, and then you say you wish I'd stayed home. You invite me into your bed, but you think I want another blanket when I'm freezing to death. Wyatt Cain, I don't think I've ever liked someone so mixed up," DG giggled.

"You 'like' me?" Cain repeated, somewhat hurt.

"Of course I do."

"Oh."

"What does that mean?" DG asked, lying on her back so she could look him in the eye. Cain propped himself up on his elbow.

"You just 'like' me."

"Yes. If 'like' means that I want to make out with you whenever I see you," she said, smiling.

Cain cleared his throat. "DG, I am in love with you."

"You are?" she asked, propping herself up to mimic his position.

"You really think I rejoined the Academy just because I felt guilty?"

"That's what you just said."

"Oh… yeah, well, I am an idiot, as you pointed out," Cain said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"That 'coward' thing," he said.

"How long have you loved me?"

"Long enough that it's making me crazy, Deeg," Cain said. "I know you don't want to put a name to what this is between us, but I am going crazy trying to figure out how to keep what happened to Adora from happening to you."

"Wyatt, if I had known—"

"You would've come anyway." He smiled.

"Yeah, I would have," DG laughed.

"Since when did you start calling me 'Wyatt', by the way?" Cain asked, pushing a stray piece of hair off DG's face.

"Does it bother you?"

"No," he said softly. "But it's strange hearing it from the woman I love again."

DG studied his face. This was the man that sat by her as she lay in a coma, who rejoined the Tin Man Academy for her, who set records for her. The best a man ever did for her on the Otherside was leaving her a big tip at the diner.

"So. You love me," she said.

"And I'm not trying to pressure you, or make you say it—"

"I want to say it. When I can say it with no pretense, and not because you've made me feel so wonderful by telling me, but because I do." DG touched his cheek. "I'm sorry if that sounded rude."

"It didn't," Cain said. He clasped his free hand with DG's, interlacing their fingers. "Are you still cold?"

"I forgot all about it," she said.

Cain pulled DG's arm over his shoulder as he leaned towards her. Their lips touched and he laid her back on the pillow as her hand found its way to his hair. The kiss was brief, but when it was over, DG felt a compelling warmth fill her chest. With Wyatt Cain, she'd never be cold again.

An hour or so later, DG lay awake, listening to the even breaths of Cain beside her. She was terrified of what the Council would say if they found out about her attachment to him. Worse than having to leave him, she'd have to sit at home and wait for him to come back whole, wondering what their relationship could have grown into. She shifted as gently as possible so her side wasn't pressed to his; her leg was throbbing so badly, she could hear her heart beating in her ears. Or maybe it was Cain's proximity, a man who had just confessed that he loved her. Loving him would certainly compromise her. Even now, she knew that she would be devastated if he was hurt, or worse.

A faint thud sounded from outside the tent. DG turned her head towards the sound, and saw a glow from behind the fabric. All of a sudden, the glow became a flame that ripped through the dry fabric. Another thud landed on the opposite side and quickly caught fire.

"Wyatt!" DG gasped, shoving his shoulder hard.

"What?" He asked tiredly, opening one eye.

"The tent is on fire!"

Cain lept to his feet and pulled DG up with him. The flames had overtaken the tent's entrance, so he flicked open his pocketknife and tore a large rip in the only side of the tent that wasn't already engulfed in flames. He yanked DG through the tear and pushed her towards the edge of the forest.

"Run!" He growled.

"What about you?" DG gasped.

"I'll find you. Run, now, for Gods' sake." Cain turned and ran around their burning tent to face the encampment, which had been completely overtaken by walls of fire.

DG ran as best as she could with her sore leg, ran hard, until she caught her foot in a hole and tripped. Face down in the dirt, DG gasped for breath. She pulled herself into a hollow that formed beneath the roots of a giant tree and lifted the jagged edge of her dress. Her leg was purple now and the bruise had spread towards her hip. She could barely see the glow of the burning camp through the trees beyond, and Cain was there, fighting to save the camp. Sometime in between the pain and the exhaustion, DG fell into a fitful sleep.

A hand gripped DG's arm forcefully and she jerked awake. Cain knelt beside her, covered in soot and smelling like smoke. Daylight had broken, and he looked exhausted.

"We need to get out of here quickly," he said.

"What happened to the camp? Where are all the men?" DG asked.

Cain didn't answer, just shook his head. DG wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her out of the hollow, hugging her to his chest. He set her on her feet and on cue, her left leg gave out. Cain caught her again, furrowing his eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" he asked, holding her around the waist.

"Wyatt—"

"Are you hurt?"

"It's nothing."

"You can't stand," he said.

DG shut her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again, Cain raised an eyebrow.

"It's just my leg," she murmured.

Cain promptly set DG down on a root. "Show me."

Slowly, DG bared her left leg. Cain crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry, I should've told you." DG replaced her skirt.

"Come on. The forest isn't safe," he said, stooping to cradle her in his arms. DG looped her arms around his neck and he looked around to make sure he wasn't followed. Cain walked for hours without speaking, and when he finally stopped at a small inn, DG noticed that he was unarmed and neither of them had any supplies or money. All DG had was a solid gold necklace that bought them a night in a drafty room. Cain hardly spoke, but he wrapped his arms around DG in the uncomfortable bed. DG wanted to ask if all the men were gone, or if he was mad at her for hiding her leg, but no words felt adequate after a night of losing everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it couldn't have been easy for them, right? Let me know what you think!


	9. Washing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their relationship consummated, DG and Cain find solace in each other. For now, they have each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut ahead! Probably the smuttiest smut I've ever written. Let me know what you think!

Neither DG nor Cain knew how to find sleep that night. He couldn't be sure what had happened to his men; it was likely that many could have escaped as he and Dg had done, but equally likely that they were burned in their beds. The situation in that part of the OZ was more dire than Cain had anticipated, and certainly he had been downright foolish allowing DG to come with him. Her presence unsettled him at every moment. Holding her to his chest, near to his heart, made him feel like a whole man. She didn't fill the hole Adora had left and nobody ever would, but DG filled a new piece of his soul, one he hadn't even known was missing.

Adora was his first of many things: first love, first wife, first mother of his first child, first devastation… Cain wished he could give DG the right of firsts, but he couldn't give her the same life he gave Adora, and he didn't want to. Making her into a farm wife would take that right from Jeb's mother, and he wasn't comfortable with that. Besides, DG was the Crown Princess of the OZ; he couldn't take her away to a quaint farm even if he wished it.

Certainly, Adora hadn't been his first kiss or first intimacy, and he hadn't felt the kind of unbridled passion for her that he now felt for DG. Perhaps that was DG's first: first true passion. Cain wanted her, simple as that. He wanted to revel in the smooth curve of her hips. He wanted so badly to find some place with locks, where they could be alone, to forget the events of the night. Here in the drafty inn, they had a small room with attached washroom, and hefty locks on the doors. It wasn't romantic, but she was pressed to his body, and not even Papay could break down that door. Now, he needed her.

DG shifted in the Tin Man's arms so that hers were wrapped around his torso. She could hear the faint thud of his heart through his shirt and it made her feel like she was a part of him. For all she knew, Cain was all she had left in the world. Whoever had attacked them had a fair shot of making it to the Emerald City, where her parents were staying the night. What if something happened to them? Cain felt so safe, like all his love for her had created a massive shield to keep them safe for the night. DG wondered what he was thinking about behind his emotionless eyes.

She considered what he had said to her in the tent earlier. His dedication to her was a bit intimidating, but she wasn't sure why it frightened her. He would never abandon her, of that she was sure. He would give everything he had to keep her safe—that was it. DG knew that he would trade his own life for hers in an instant, a thought that DG couldn't bear. Just the notion of seeing him die for her made her stomach jump into her throat. She realized very suddenly how much she wanted to invest in him for that very same reason: they both could die, the fire had shown her that. If she had to spend the rest of her life running from the unknown dangers, she'd prefer to do it with a man that loved her.

She couldn't deny his magnetism in the slightest; seeing him descend the ballroom stairs a new man had awoken something inside her. He was the man that filled her dreams, the man who had kissed her when she asked. She was sure that he would relieve the aching need in her body too; all she had to do was ask again. Her leg was well past being in working order, but she was willing to risk the pain for him. She needed him, Wyatt Cain, the man who loved her.

"You ought to shower," she murmured, the first one to break the silence since he found her in the woods.

"I suppose," he replied.

"I'll be all right while you're in there," she said.

"Don't open the door for anyone," he said softly, unwinding his arms from around her and sitting up.

DG shook her head. "Promise."

Cain nodded. DG tried to smile but she just couldn't manage it. He stroked her cheek in silent reassurance and stood from the bed. He gave her one last glance that was filled with an emotion DG couldn't quite identify, and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind. The water began to run and then Cain's boots hit the wooden floor with a thunk.

Cain let the water wash over his head, resting it against the wall. He had seen one face in the blaze that jarred him, a face from his nightmares, from the past. Had it been real? If it was the same face he thought it was, they were in grave danger. Soft, small hands slid around his waist and came to rest on his chest. Silky skin pressed against his back. He hadn't heard her come in. He was definitely not himself.

DG rested her cheek against Cain's bare back. The sight of his posture had brought her to tears. For once, he looked weak. She had never seen him look that way, even when she first saw him all those months ago, in the hologram, projected against his deserted house.

He grasped one of her hands and held it against his heart.

"Let me wash you," she whispered.

He turned towards her slowly, while DG took up the bar of soap from a small ledge. It smelled of lemon. Cain was all muscle, just as she had imagined the night of the ball. DG began washing him at his left shoulder, moving down his hulking arm with the bar of soap. She turned his hand in hers, washing the soot from under his nails. She completed the other arm in the same manner. The more methodical she took to the task, the less likely she would be to lose her nerve and jump him, however tempting.

All the while, he watched her. She was unembarrassed to be next to his naked body, naked herself as if that was her natural state. Her leg appeared to be stained with a purple-ish black ink and it made him cringe. She was standing with most of her weight on her right leg, but he could see that she was hurting.

He studied the way her hair curled into little ringlets around her face from the moisture, the way it framed the curves of her shoulders and still lower to her breasts, where one long tendril kissed the top of her nipple. He cleared his throat and looked towards the ceiling, trying to stifle the blush in his cheeks because men don't blush… ahem.

DG washed his torso next, and then turned him so she could scrub his back. Cain was glad for this; he was straining for her, in a place he hoped she wouldn't expect to wash. He was ashamed of himself for reacting to her like an over-eager teenager, but who could blame him? The woman he loved was washing his body, naked herself, and unashamed.

"Turn around," she said.

He hesitated, looking down at his manhood that would betray him if she saw.

"Wyatt, I'm not finished."

"It's not proper," he muttered, awkwardly.

"A princess of the OZ is naked in your shower. We are way past proper," she said, smiling. "You're not the first man I've seen naked, Wyatt."

"And yet, that oddly doesn't make me feel better," he growled.

"You've already faced me once like this."

"Not like this, I haven't."

"Why are you afraid of letting me see you like that? What do you think will happen?" she asked, crossing her arms. The metallic sound of the water hitting the tiles filled a long pause.

"You'll think I can't control myself."

"I would not be naked with you in this shower if I expected or even wanted you to control yourself. I want you to abandon control, Wyatt." DG slid one finger down his him and stepped closer to him. "I know you want something. You've said it before. Are you afraid of what might happen if we do?"

"Your leg—"

"I'll be fine. Some increased circulation will do it good."

Cain glanced at her over his shoulder. He didn't know how to say what he was afraid of. This was serious, now. If they consummated these feelings between them, they'd be completely lost to it. He'd already lost one woman he loved. Sure, he could insinuate whatever he wanted, when it was just talk, but acting on it was entirely different. Acting on it meant a commitment, he wasn't the kind of man to sleep with a woman casually. He knew DG didn't love him, and he didn't want to force her into anything. Then again, she was the one who joined him in the shower, who offered to wash him. She was an adult capable of making her own decisions. If she wanted to look at him naked, that was her choice. He was taking an innocent shower when she walked in; nobody forced her in there. I mean, the fact that she was naked meant she must be okay with it. Adults can be naked together without anybody losing their heads. He had no reason to be embarrassed—

"Move your hands," she said.

Slowly, Cain did so, though he thought it unwise. Her hand put slight pressure on his hip and he turned towards her. DG lathered soap in her hands and set the bar on the ledge. Gently, she swirled the soap on his stomach, moving lower towards Cain's manhood. When her small hand touched him, he inhaled sharply. Cain grabbed her wrist to still her hands, but DG didn't let go.

"Kiss me?" she asked.

Cain bent towards her and pressed his lips to hers as he had the first time she asked. She teetered on her one usable leg, leaning into him for balance as he kissed her. Swiftly, he wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground. Likewise, DG wrapped her right leg around his waist to get closer. He groaned against her lips, pressing her against the wall as she worked him to his full length.

The warm cascade of water from the showerhead split at Cain's shoulder, running down his back one way, and then drenching DG's arm as she put a hand to his straining jaw. DG gasped for air, and Cain began to kiss across her jaw to her neck; hot, open-mouthed kisses that left DG wondering why she hadn't jumped him much sooner.

His free hand found the outer curve of her breast, then the smooth hollow at her waist, and then the gentle bow of the hip that he had so longed to explore. Cain relished the way her skin pulled taut beneath his hand. He was careful not to touch her left leg as much as possible, but it was becoming very difficult to muster any coherent thought.

"So," he breathed against her collarbone, "you've seen other men naked?"

"Doesn't really matter now," she replied, stroking his shaft. "I need you. Just you."

Cain hooked his arm beneath DG's left leg gently, behind her knee where the bruise and the injury didn't reach. He cradled her knee in the crook of his elbow. She gasped as her bottom bumped roughly against the soap ledge, banishing the bar of soap to the floor of the shower. Cain released her waist and took both of her hands in his, pinning them above her head.

Warmth zinged through her core as he lowered his head to her upturned nipple. He laved the eager bud, drawing it between is lips. His teeth grazed the tender skin and DG trembled with pleasure.

"Oh," she murmured, attempting to quell the urge to moan loudly in an inn with paper-thin walls.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked quickly.

"Oh God, no, don't stop," she begged, straining for him.

Cain turned his attention to her other breast, teasing her tender nipple until she was practically writhing in his arms. He lowered her hands once more, placing them on his shoulders. DG's eyes were wild, touched with a shade of dark passion and pleasure. Cain skimmed his free hand down the inside of her left thigh gently, making sure he wasn't hurting her. DG's wild eyes fluttered closed. His fingers found her center and entered her tenderly to make sure she was ready for him.

DG's head fell back and she linked her hands behind his neck. He looked at her for approval and stilled. She glanced at him and he smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow in question. DG stroked the nape of his neck, smiled, and then inclined her head up to catch his lips.

He positioned himself at the place she wanted him most and pushed inside slowly, allowing their bodies to adjust to one another. DG's breath left her. She broke away from his lips with a gasp. Cain's hips retreated and then returned, thrusting into her. DG rolled her hips in sync with him, trying to ignore the dull ache in her leg and give over to the pleasure. The sound of their skin meeting echoed in the small bathroom, while the sound of DG's blissful moans was surely audible to the surrounding rooms, but she didn't care.

Cain felt he wouldn't last long, and he picked up the pace, enticing every little sound from DG's throat. He loved her body with everything he had in that moment, in the desperation they both felt. DG was losing control, reaching, crying out for release. As she tightened around him, Cain fought to stay ahead of her release, thrusting into her forcefully. He muffled her cry as she came with a kiss, and then pulled out of her quickly, emptying himself.

Neither one of them moved for a moment. Cain looked at her as she let out a particularly satisfied breath. DG smiled and began to laugh quietly.

"Well," she grinned.

"Well," Cain replied, smiling. He kissed her again and then let her legs down slowly. "Better wash up."

This time, it was Cain who washed DG. He combed his fingers through her hair, washed every part of her with the wayward bar of soap. When they were both clean, Cain shut off the water and then lifted DG from behind her knees and around her back. He carried her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, stopping by a shelf to have her grab two towels for them. He set her on her feet again near the bed and wrapped a towel around her.

"When you're dry, lay down so I can I have a look at your leg," Cain said. He kissed her forehead and then wrapped a towel around his own waist, heading for the bathroom. When he emerged, Cain was dressed again in his uniform, but he left off his coat and boots. DG lay on the bed with the towel around herself.

"I didn't know if you wanted me to dress," she said quickly, when she saw he was dressed.

"It's all right," Cain smiled. "Your nakedness doesn't offend me."

"I know," she said.

He chuckled and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. DG's leg looked worse than it had in the forest, but then again he only saw it in the moonlight. "I'm worried."

"I don't know what's wrong with it. I don't think it's the bone," DG said.

"Neither do I. It could be tissue death, which unfortunately has a very final cure." Cain frowned.

"That's not an option," she said.

"It might have to be, DG. I just want you to prepare yourself for that," he said, touching her cheek. "We've got a lot of running to do yet, and you're not fit to walk or ride. Whatever lies ahead could make it impossible for you to recover."

"I'll recover," she said, scooting around him and off the bed to reach for her clothes on the floor. She hobbled to the bathroom with her wad of clothes and closed the door.

Cain sighed. He hoped that she would recover, because if she didn't, he'd probably be the one removing her leg with the knife in his pocket and lots of prayer to the Gods he had long abandoned. "Heck," he thought, "I'd better pray to them now, before we're back on the road with the unknown dangers."

The toilet flushed in the bathroom and DG emerged a few moments later. Her eyes were red and glassy.

"What is it?" Cain asked, standing to meet her in the doorway.

She looked up at him and tried to blink back the tears. "What will I do?" she murmured.

He didn't know what to tell her, so he pulled her into his embrace, circling his arms around her. They were only at the beginning of a long road, and Cain didn't have the map.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *fans self*


	10. Regrouping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Finaqua, preparations begin to search for the missing princess and the greatest Tin Man to ever live... if they're still alive. Meanwhile, Cain tells DG of the lore behind the OZ's gods.

Jeb sent pages racing through the academy delivering tons of notes to his fellow officers. He sent a messenger to each branch of the militia to warn them about the attack at his father's camp, and pulled several of the new high-ranking recruits for a special recon team. He assembled the board to discuss the crisis, and they had a few answers. Finally, Jeb met with the Queen, Consort, Princess, Glitch, and Raw in the throne room.

"What do we know?" the Queen asked, once Jeb stood before her.

"The camp was attacked with firebombs made of crude items; rags soaked in pure alcohol, rocks, and twine ties," Jeb began. "According to my informant, nearly three quarters of the tents burned also contained bodies, each of which slept two to three people. There are still thirty-eight soldiers unaccounted for, including my father. Princess DG is also missing. They may have been taken hostage, though it's unlikely that whatever group attacked them was large enough to take thirty-nine people. All we can hope is that they've escaped, but they've been good about covering their tracks. Apparently they found signs of an injured person fleeing the camp, from a trail of a single footstep accompanied by a drag mark, and they believe it to be one of the attackers, who was likely picked up by one of his associates. That's all we know, for now."

The Queen and Consort exchanged a look of worry.

"I'm deeply sorry for the loss of your men," the Queen said solemnly.

"As am I. But it was their first night in the camp, which is usually the least disciplined, although I don't understand why there wasn't an established perimeter already, I—the board is very concerned with retrieving the bodies and returning the identifiable ones to their families." He cleared his throat, swallowing the lump that grew there.

"And they found no sign of DG or Cain?" Glitch asked. "They must be together at least."

"We aren't sure of that—"

"Raw is sure," Raw said. "Cain would not leave DG."

"Is someone looking for them?" Azkadellia asked.

"I have assembled a team, but they haven't been sent out yet. We're waiting on the last messenger from the Emerald City, in the hopes that they took refuge there," Jeb said.

"Thank goodness we did not stay in the Emerald City, my dear," Ahamo said to the Queen.

"I will not give thanks until I know my daughter is safe," the Queen said sharply.

"I admit, I'm considering going with the recon team myself," Jeb said. "The board can make decisions without me, and I don't have much faith in the men we've assembled to track my father. He's got to be miles away from the camp by now, and won't have headed back towards Emerald City. If he's with DG, they are on the run and getting further from Finaqua every moment."

Azkadellia crossed the marble tiles and stood beside him. "I will go."

"No, Azkadellia, dear—"

"And I," Glitch said, stepping forward.

"Raw, too, will go." Raw stood beside Glitch and the zipper head clapped his hand on the viewer's shoulder.

"I cannot allow this," the Queen protested.

"Mother, who better than us to find DG and Cain? Cain's son, who knows how to track him. Raw, who can see if they've been where we look. Glitch… for his muchness, and me, for my magic," Azkadellia said. "We're a small band, so we'll slip under the radar of any longcoat troupe. We're the best choice."

"I do not like it," the Queen said, sitting back against her throne.

"Azkadellia is right," Glitch said. "Raw and I have travelled with DG and Cain before. Jeb and Az have a right to be there and let's be honest, furball and I are fierce, but we're not magic, nor are we the head of the Tin Man academy. We're their only hope."

"We don't even know where they are heading," the Queen said. "It's unwise to send you without a destination in mind."

"I believe they may be headed for a royal residence, where there are guards and people who can assist them further," Jeb said. "If I know my father, and I think I do, he is thinking of the Northern Palace. It's the opposite direction, which means that they'd hopefully be able to put off anyone on their trail."

"Except for us," Azkadellia said, smiling at Jeb. He returned the smile.

"I will allow it," the Queen sighed. "If you go undercover, and you promise to be careful."

"Of course," Jeb said.

"We're their best chance," Azkadellia said. "And if DG remembers her magic, they've got an even better shot."

Azkadellia, Jeb, Raw, and Glitch all bowed to the Queen and Consort, and then left the throne room to prepare for departure. The Queen spoke her worries again to her husband quietly, and he reassured her that his daughter and the Sergeant would be found, all the while concealing his own, deeply seeded concern.

Cain awoke DG before the suns had even broken over the hills. He had stolen new clothes for them off a clothesline at a nearby farm, noting that both of them would be highly recognizable in their valuable clothes, DG especially. Once she unclothed herself, Cain wrapped her thigh tightly in a stretchy cloth, and then helped her put on the male clothing he had stolen. She would be attired like a farm boy, him like a farmer. They'd be less noticeable that way.

Though they had paid for the room the night before, Cain snuck DG out through the kitchen and behind the far side of the Inn, where the stables lay.

"I don't feel good about this," she whispered, as Cain picked the lock on a stall door.

"We don't have a choice. We have to move quickly," he said. The latch popped open and Cain entered the stall. In a matter of minutes, he had the horse inside saddled in a farmer's saddle that had been carelessly left in the stall. He helped DG up onto the horse and then climbed up behind her. Cain nudged the horse forward quietly until they had cleared the inn by several hundred yards. Then, he picked up the pace, galloping as fast as the horse could take them.

When the suns were high in the sky, and the shadows were short, Cain slowed the horse considerably.

"I'd like to find some supplies to camp so we don't leave a trail of breadcrumbs from inn to inn," he explained to DG, who leaned back against him with most of her weight.

"You could trade your knife for some," she suggested.

"No, that I must keep. I refuse to be entirely unarmed. I'll barter your dress."

"I didn't like that one anyway," DG said. She turned her head and looked up at him, smiling slightly. He returned a half-smile, but he was very distracted. "How much longer will we be on the road?"

"I don't know."

"Where are we headed?" she asked.

"The Northern Island," he said.

"Where are we now?"

"I don't know that either. We're somewhere to the west of the Emerald City, and we need to be North East of it, but I don't want to take the main path past the city, because I don't know if the attack on camp was meant for the soldiers… or for you," he said, sighing. "They could be waiting back at camp, or following us, or waiting in the city to ambush us. Gods, DG."

"Yeah. This isn't where I thought we'd be when I asked to go with you."

"Thank Gods you did. If the attack was meant for you, I wouldn't have been with you when they sprung it on you at the palace. If it was for the men, I might have been dead asleep and gone now."

DG turned more in the saddle. "Is that what you think happened to the men?" she asked softly.

Cain hesitated for a moment and then nodded. DG looked away and leaned back against him.

"Why do you say "Gods" when you get upset?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Same reason you say "God" when you're upset."

"Because Ozians believe in multiple gods?"

"Some of us believe the OZ is watched over by six Gods, yes," he said.

"Do you believe that?"

"I suppose."

"Tell me."

"I only know the children's story about them," Cain said, chuckling.

"I quite like children's stories," DG replied. "Come on, it will pass the time."

"I suppose you're right," he said. Cain cleared his throat. "Well…when the OZ was a young realm, they say that the six gods were spun from gold stardust by the Great Spinner, Avaric. First, He created Nor, Goddess of the Soil, and Nor formed the clay soil into hills and mountains. Then, He made Liir, God of Water. Liir pulled water from the clouds and created streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Avaric then created Manek and Arduenna, the twin sun Goddesses, in the hope that the long day would allow Nor's soil and Liir's water to mix and grow lush plants. Then, He created Irji, the God of the Moon, who would take the place of the suns during the dark hours and watch over the realm. Last, He created Sarima, Goddess of the Shadows, so that Avaric could see even the darkest parts of his new world.

"Avaric sprinkled the dust from lesser stars on the earth and man grew from that. Then munchkins, and viewers, and the rest. Men ruled the Crag in the plains, while Munchkins took the Quadling mountains. Viewers created a hidden paradise between two mountains, which they called the Den of Frex, for Frex was the lioness that they followed. Avaric knew that his peaceful realm wouldn't remain so forever, so he proclaimed to his Gods to watch for the arrival of a young girl from another world, who would one day save the OZ from evil.

"Sarima, the Goddess of the Shadows, and Irji, the God of the Moon, found themselves turning to the darkness and away from Avaric. They had four daughters, against Avaric's wishes, and those four introduced magic to the OZ. They were witches; two benevolent, and two nefarious. The good daughters, Galinda and Gaylette, aided Crag, Quadling, and Frex, while the bad sisters, Elphaba and Nessa, sought to rid the OZ of the mortal inhabitants. Gaylette was slain protecting Frex, and the viewers were enslaved. Galinda created her own helpers, the bubble fairies, and they successfully hid her from her two evil sisters. Meanwhile, Elphaba and Nessa took over Quadling, and the Men took up arms against them. The men lost, and Elphaba took Crag for herself, ruling over men with terror.

"Hundreds and thousands of years later, your great-great-great grandmother Dorothy slipped through from the Otherside. She came on a travel storm sent by Manek and Arduenna. When Dorothy slipped through in her small house, it fell on Nessa and she was slain. Then she melted Elphaba with a pail of water. Galinda reappeared to help Dorothy, but hasn't been seen since. It was believed that all evil had been banished from the OZ and all displaced peoples returned to their homes. But Sarima came to earth when you were a girl, likening you and your sister to her two favorite daughters."

"And then she possessed Azkadellia!" DG exclaimed.

"Yes. You know the rest of the story," Cain said.

"No, I don't. I know there is still evil in the OZ," she said.

"You're right."

"What about Avaric? What happened to him, couldn't he have stopped Sarima and Irji's children from taking over the OZ?" DG asked.

"He could have. But he wanted his people to learn to fight for themselves, to learn strength," Cain said. "Once Elphaba and Ness were slain, he gave over dominion of the OZ to his Gods entirely. Now he watches over another realm. That's what the stories say, anyway."

"Maybe he watches over the Otherside," DG said. "Many people over there worship just one god, a man. Maybe that's where Avaric watches now."

"Maybe," Cain said. "They wouldn't call him Avaric, I imagine. The names of the Gods were created by us that came after them, I doubt that he named them."

"Why is that?"

"He wouldn't need to. I mean, why do we name things? To show that we own them. To show others, specifically. The leader of Men named Avaric, and his Gods, to claim them when the language of men was created. The god on the Otherside wouldn't be called the same thing, because he was named by different men."

"Why do both realms call them "gods," then?"

"I don't know. Maybe more people have slipped between the OZ and the Otherside than you and your father," Cain said. He smiled at DG when she turned around, and then kissed her temple.

"I'm sure I learned all this when I was little," DG said, sighing. "I don't remember any of it."

"There are several nursery rhymes about the Princesses' proclivity to mischief as well," Cain chuckled. "I don't think you were interested in silly stories of the past."

"They're not silly, they're beautiful," DG said.

They rode silently for a while, while DG digested the myths of the realm she might someday rule. She wondered if Sarima was truly gone. In the middle of the day, the shadows were short, but they were still there. Had DG and Azkadellia really banished her? She didn't know, and she was suddenly worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where will our heroes go from here? Where would you like to see them go? Your comments will help fuel those plot bunnies! ;)

**Author's Note:**

> As we used to say on LJ nearly ten years ago... feed those plot bunnies! What do you think, dear reader?


End file.
